Nov 29, 2010

Engaging Inspiration







One of the struggles I face quite a bit is trying to find new ideas.  I can spend hours on Flickr looking through images that I want to copy...but I want to do more than replicate...I want to create.  I've been reading a lot of creative blogs and have some great ideas...which I'll share at another time.  One of the ideas I personally enjoy is walking with a purpose.  No matter what your creative medium sometimes it helps to just get out and walk...but with a sense of intentionality.


A few weeks ago I was hitting the creative wall...maybe you know the feeling.  Every photo I was taking was...well...blah.  I was trying to edit through some images and create something nice...but instead just sat looking at my computer with nothing.  So I said forget it...and I grabbed the camera and headed out for an hour or so.  

I live in a city known for creativity...so I decided to look for evidence of this creativity....and so off I went.  I was not only energized by the walk...but also creatively renewed as I engaged the city around me.  I wasn't shooting for a client...or for a project...just for me...and what a difference it made.


I'd love to hear what you do.  Do you walk?  Do you find new inspiration from music...other art?  How do you renew your inspiration?

7 comments:

Marcie said...

Walking always helps me get out of my own creative rut. And - I love these images..especially how you've processed them!

Jamie said...

This rut came at the perfect time - I'm feeling that rut and need to jump myself out of it.

Irma said...

Taking a creative vacation from producing art to just absorbing what the environment is showing us: Writing, making notes, to-do lists for future projects, reading a book, abandoning the adult self and really immersing myself in playing with my toddlers...all seem to reignite the spark to return to my desk to create.

mrs mediocrity said...

beautiful images...
running always helps me clear my mind so new things can flow in. reading inspires me. playing.
the world is filled with possibility.

Suki said...

walks with music loud out of my earphones lets me be inspired again.
I need to have time to unwind, ride a train all by myself and suddenly all the inspiration pops up again.

dbalyoz said...

beautiful images and a beautiful idea: to walk with intention and to look for creativity. I will try that to get me out of my next rut... :) denise

Prairie Girl Studio said...

as a graphic designer, i used to believe and knocked myself out trying to create original ideas ... i believed i had to come up with something completely new ... always. it was silly!
once i learned to get ideas from ideas ... not copying ideas, but letting them inspire you to put your own spin on the idea ~ the gates were lifted and the creativity flowed ...
i often feel like i am on a creative roller-coaster ... some days stimulated to a halt because i have too much inspiration happening and i don't know where to begin ...
and other days where i just need to resign to the fact that "uh uh ~ nothing happening here today"!

to reach that lovely momentum ...
nature always inspires me ...
magazines will do it ...
and some days i just need to get lost in a soap opera to clear my mind to allow inspiration back in ...
with a clean canvas, a daily visit to my i.studio, and i am back with a smile ...

thanks for the great post ...
awesome photos!
: )
prairiegirl