7 Fabulous Sources of Inspiration
From time to time, like all writers, I can’t help thinking about inspiration and creative potential. Inspiration is like oxygen for me and for millions of people all over the world who make a living in a creative field. Earlier, I believed that creativity was an inborn trait like charisma. But now, I’ve changed my point of view and know that every human being can develop creativity. The main thing to do is to be in constant search of inspiration, because our creativity and productivity depend mostly on the mood and other emotional states.
It often happens that talented people, who’ve already faced a creativity crisis, become disheartened and believe that their creative potential is already exhausted. All writers, designers, musicians and painters should know that occasional career ups and downs are absolutely normal.
Every time my inspiration fades away and I start thinking that it’s all over, I explain to myself that it’s nothing else, but fear. It’s just a fear of losing the talent and being left out in the cold. Some people prefer to wait till everything returns back to normal, while others spend huge sums of money on a journey around the world to catch the wave of inspiration again.
Without a doubt, travelling is extremely beneficial and it broadens the horizons, but unfortunately not everyone can afford such an effective inspiration booster. There’s no need to travel all the time, because inspiration is everywhere. I’ll try to prove that you can nourish the imagination and spirit just exploring your surroundings.
1 Problems
I’m not a psychologist, but I’m greatly interested in solving and thinking over different issues that make the life of humanity more meaningful and complicated. Unlike many people, who by all means, try to avoid dwelling on complex and sometimes even painful issues, I tend to look at the challenge from different angles.
Psychologists state that difficulties, conflicts and dilemmas can serve as inspiration for mentally strong and emotionally stable personalities. When we stir up debates and focus on difficulties, we experience some kind of stress. Besides the side effects, this stress and emotional tension activate human imagination and sharpen the perception. These psychological processes often give birth to new and unusual ideas and make the mind more productive.
2 Media
No matter how you slice it, nowadays media has become the main and constant inspiration for almost all people. The television and the Internet are full of quotes, electronic or audio books, music and movies available to everyone. This stuff can give a nudge, when you feel that you’ve already run out of ideas and help you overcome a creative block.
There’s no need to torment yourself sitting in front of a computer and squeezing the last drop of creativity out of your head. If you’ve no inspiration to write or paint at the moment, then you should take a break for the sake of your success.
Spend a day listening to music and watching extremely expressive movies that can leave a deep and lasting impression on you and even change your outlook on life. If it doesn’t work or it seems that you’ve already watched all mind expanding movies, then a few hours of surfing the Internet will certainly handle the situation.
Just look through various blogs, articles and websites in order to find the topics you’re passionate about. But it doesn’t mean that you’re looking through the info to copy or steal something interesting. As a professional, you should read everything thoughtfully to understand a true message and let new ideas ripen in your mind.
Read also – 5 Surefire Ways to Unleash Your Creative Potential
3 Rivalry
Rivalry as a part of a life competition generates inspiration in our minds, because every person has a cherished desire to win the race and reach success. During the competition your ambitions enhance the productivity of your brain. It means that your imagination starts producing a great number of ideas that can lead you to victory. The main thing to do is to learn to cope with diffidence and fears, because some day they can make you blind to a brilliant idea.
4 People
Many geniuses and incredibly talented people are introverts by nature. They tend to wander through their inner worlds trying to discover the new depths of their subconscious minds and derive inspiration from them. I do agree that this peculiarity makes them unique, but it’s not beneficial, because it significantly limits their opportunities.
As a creative extrovert, I can state with confidence that people around us can also inspire and motivate each other. When I deal with lack of inspiration, I go out and communicate with people. We can spend hours talking about both funny things and urgent problems. Their words, points of view and deeds often inspire me to write articles about their lives, experiences, problems, goals and achievements.
Every person, being a part of a modern society, is an individual who has their own vision of the world, values, traditions and lifestyle. Someone’s charisma can boost your inspiration one day and help you create a masterpiece. If you feel that active communication with people is your pair of shoes and this activity drives your inspiration, try to interact with positive people for the sake of your well-being.
5 Feelings
Many creative people prefer to sip wine or whiskey before or when making an attempt to create something magical. They wholeheartedly believe that the nectar of the gods will open the door to their rich inner creative worlds. I do agree that alcohol can inspire, help us reveal our talents and turn us into out of the box thinkers, but its regular and excessive consumption can spoil the quality of life and cause a negative addiction.
I think it’s better to get inspiration from the feelings. Feelings are an endless source of inspiration. Everyone has an innate ability to experience a full range of feelings, starting from love, pleasure and gratitude to anger, hatred and resentment. I hope you’ve already noticed that both classical and modern literature have always been a reflection of human values, feelings and experiences. Even world famous poets portrayed love in their works. It means that love is the thing that inspires people to live and create regardless of everything.
Read also – What Your Intuition Is Trying to Tell You?
6 Nature
I’ve already mentioned that almost all super talented people are introverts. But where do introverts draw inspiration from? They usually try to reconnect with the nature, because green plants, leaves, animals and flowers are their inspiration. Instead of hanging somewhere in the clubs or exploring the megapolis, they get out of their offices and cities to take a gulp of fresh air and feel a new dose of inspiration running through their veins.
My best friend is a true nature-lover. She says that the tranquility of nature, songs and sounds of birds help her achieve inner peace and see the reality in bright colors. Regular and long walks through the forest keep her motivated and make her creative life more colorful and successful.
7 Praise
Human psyche is an unbelievably difficult and often unpredictable mechanism. When people criticize your works, you can either create a breakthrough in your activity or lose heart and inspiration to do something. Everything depends on you, but if you’ve lost faith in your abilities for one reason or another, then only praise can solve the issue and fill you mind with inspiration again.
If you’re a writer, you should read positive comments written by people who find your works useful, unique and read every article with pleasure. It will certainly give you a second wind to write again and again for the people who treat your creativity with respect and always look forward to your new pieces of wisdom or advice.
Inspiration is like a butterfly. The more you chase it, the more elusive it becomes. People shouldn’t turn lack of inspiration into an obsessive problem, because they’ll never find the way out. I hope my tips have come in handy and helped you prevent creative blocks in the future. Do you often have problems with inspiration? What other unusual sources of inspiration do you know? Share your experiences with us.
