Even the most prolific artists, writers, filmmakers and actors can lose inspiration once in a while, and when this happens, it can really harm their creative self-confidence. This can sometimes become a perpetual loop, in which someone feels totally and absolutely out of ideas, and these professionals often worry if they’ve ‘lost their touch’ when that happens.
However, it’s important to realize that sometimes, this is natural, that we can’t always be a fountain of amazing and brilliant ideas, and sometimes, when stressors such as a deadline come into play, that can prevent us from naturally finding our spark. For those of us who might employ our creativity in our hobbies, or humble creative projects, or perhaps through a career focus like running a successful blog, it can feel tough to know where to start and enable that creative inspiration to blossom.
In this post, we’ll discuss a few measures you can use for finding that inspiration and hopefully enable you to curate it naturally. Without further ado, let’s get started:
Get Out In The World
There’s nothing quite like the world outside for fostering inspiration. Many people think that creative potential has to come from inside themselves, as if it were being fuelled by some internal creative force that is totally separate from the outside world. Well, we’re certainly not separate from the outside world, so why should our creativity be?
It might be that instead of forcing yourself to write, or to paint without inspiration, you simply go on a small weekend getaway with someone you like to be around. Explore a little. Learn something new, perhaps the history of the village you’re spending these days in. A little effort like this can make a tremendous difference in how you relate to the world, what you feel, and the topics currently swirling around your mind.
It’s hard not to feel rejuvenated and ready after you take the initiative like that. For instance, writing in your local coffee shop may be nice, but writing after you’ve taken a hike with a friend, protected by your hiking boots and long sleeve performance shirts, can help the creative juices flow while the sights you’ve immersed yourself in help you define your creativity anew.
Study A Style
It might be that while you’ve taken some time to define your own style in art or in another creative outlet, you feel that this is wearing a little thin. That’s totally fine. Even Bruce Lee, widely regarded to be one of the most impressive and capable martial artists out there, would constantly pick and choose certain techniques from different fighting styles he found important and interesting, ultimately creating his own form of Kung Fu that he incorporated into his style.
While you’re unlikely to fight a room of goons for a movie anytime soon, it could be that learning a style (perhaps from a renaissance-era painter) could help you challenge your skills and give you new life within y our practice.
Think About Your Authentic Desires
It can be nice to think about why you actually want to engage in this process first and foremost. Are you painting simply because you’ve been doing that for the last year and it’s been fun, only you feel somewhat tired and unsure of what to paint now? Well, why force yourself to? Maybe painting can be a hobby you enjoy on the weekends, rather than something you just have to master right now. It’s good to let that creative voice speak to you, rather than grasping it and forcing it to work.
Throw Yourself In A Deep End
Of course, throwing yourself in a deep end can be highly enjoyable, and it’s not surprising so many people find this a rewarding way to learn and inject some excitement into their creative projects. For instance, an author might think of a topic that they love or a question burning inside them and wish to know more about it.
Okay, then perhaps instead of thinking about writing a book on that topic, they can just research and amass material that allows them to think through the story, including the factual information sorted from myth, first-hand accounts, and a range of other evidence uncovered through means outside of the internet (such as working through dusty tomes in the local library). Through the act of diving in at the deep end, creative inspiration and direction is sure to strike, and this is hardly limited to writing.
With this advice, we hope you can more easily find inspiration for that creative project you’ve been thinking of. Odds are, you’ll be thankful you started.
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