I woke up yesterday with this painting pounding on my heart – asking, begging, pleading to be birthed into the world. It was such a relief to tap into my creativity and paint it into existence. I had spent the weekend trying to re-purpose an old painting of the sea, but none of my tweaks worked. I couldn’t quite grasp where I needed to take it, so I kept spinning my wheels. It was like my creative spirit had up and left me with a pile of paper and paints – and no inspiration.
I forgot, in those moments of frustration, that the best way to find creativity is to go do something else – especially something that plays with your subconscious and invites inspiration in. So…
If you’ve misplaced your creative spirit, here are 19 ideas on how and where to find it…
1. Go on a scavenger hunt at the mall. Find 20 Easter eggs. Find the word “FLY” 10 times. Find your favorite color in 30 places. You get the idea.
2. Take a shower. Let the water clear your mind, let the ideas flow.
3. Plant something. Take good care of it. Watch it grow.
4. Go to a fabric store and find three prints that blend together beautifully. Feel all those brain neurons gleefully firing as you mix and match!
5. Color your sidewalk or driveway with chalk. Write a favorite quote, make flowers, design an ant farm.
6. Take the path less traveled. Find a new way to get to work. Choose a different running path. Heck, walk backwards!
7. Hang out at the library. Did you know they have books about everything there? For free?
8. Play with cell phone photo apps like Instagram and Hipstamatic. Be inspired by your surroundings. Take pictures.
9. Go outside. Take a walk, dip your toes in a stream, run through the grass. Be inspired by the beauty around you.
10. Take a soothing bath with sea salt and/or essential oils. Feel your troubles melt away.
11. Keep a pen and pad of paper in your car, by your bed, in the bathroom, in the kitchen, in your gym bag and anywhere else a random idea might fall in your lap.
12. When you run into a simple problem, imagine a solution. This morning, I imagined a flexible mechanical arm that could swoop down from the ceiling and open the stubborn vitamin jar. And then my kid opened it.
13. Re-write commercials. Don’t like one you see or hear? Think of how you’d improve it.
14. Do an extreme little home makeover: hang a picture, clean the junk drawer, move some furniture.
15. Get lost. On purpose. Drive and drive till you don’t know where you are. Discover someplace new, then find your way home.
16. Pick people out of a crowd and guess their name, occupation and relationship status. Totally fun to do with a friend!
17. Ask your bookshelf to deliver the wisdom you need right here, right now. Approach the book you feel most called to and open it to a random page. What does its message mean to you?
18. Laugh every day. Watch, listen to or read something funny. Connect with a funny friend. Giggle at your own inside jokes.
19. Jot down on the calendar not just what you have to do tomorrow, but what you loved about this day.
And…bing-bang-bam! Creative juices? Flowing! Inspiration? Knocking! Imagination? Activated! Go set the world on fire, baby!
