Episode 76: How to Stay Inspired as a Creative
Hello, creative soles! Thank you for tuning in to Never Wear Boring Socks - I’m excited to talk to you today about how to stay inspired when you’re working on a creative project.
In the last episode we talked about making the bed, which I get is sort of a weird metaphor, but I stand by it - and part of that metaphor of making the bed is about thinking about your creative practice as a plant that needs nurturing. So if you didn’t listen to the last episode maybe go back and listen to that first, basically the idea is that in addition to the bed that you sleep in, prepping your metaphorical garden bed for creativity is another way you can think about making the bed. I promise we’re talking about creativity - just stick with me. So if you think about your creative practice as a plant that needs nurturing, first, we have to carve out the space and prep the soil, and then we have to make sure the soil is rich and healthy and full of nutrients and great compost to support our little creative babies.
How do we do this? Well, that’s what we’re talking about today. What sort of compost does our creative work need to thrive?
I think one of the first things that comes to mind for a lot of people when it comes to staying inspired as an artist is taking in other people’s art. As artists, we find a lot of inspiration and ideas when we experience someone else’s work that we really admire. Which is great! I think that is one big way that we can nurture our creativity.
I also think it’s valuable here to look outside your own medium or genre for inspiration. If you’re a writer, for example, yes I think it’s great to look to other writers you admire but you can also to painters and musicians and chefs. And if you write romance novels, try reading things outside that genre. I personally believe that’s how we make our creative work more interesting. My partner was in school for farming this summer and I learned a lot through him about how important it is to have a diverse microbiome in the soil for healthy plants. Sort of like our gut microbiome, if you’re familiar with that idea. I think introducing these different genres and mediums into our awareness is like introducing different microorganisms to the soil, and turning it into this rich, diverse web of inspiration. I believe pulling inspiration from across different genres and mediums allows us to create more unique and interesting art, because if you think about it if all of the oil painters who focused on still lifes were all only looking at other oil paintings of still lifes, they would probably start to look sort of the same. And a lot of them sort of do. But if you listen to a symphony, for example, or you see a photo of a tree that really inspires you, that could give you a new perspective to bring to your oil painting, something entirely new and exciting.
And I don’t think that paying attention to other artists is the only thing we need to do in order to stay inspired. I think it’s also important to live our lives outside of our art. A lot of inspiration can come from our everyday. I just started watching Seinfeld recently for the first time, and that’s a very obvious example if you’re familiar with the show or his style of comedy, that there is so much to be inspired by in your everyday experience. I think this is very true even if you’re not a comedian. As much as I believe it’s important to sit down at your desk or your easel or whatever with consistency and dedication on a regular basis, I also believe that ideas come to us, both consciously and subconsciously, when we’re out and about doing our thing, experiencing the world.
One particular practice that’s related to this that I’ve experimented with lately is the artist date. This is an idea from The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron, which I’ve mentioned before. She recommends a weekly artist date, which is basically an opportunity to play, or to do something just for the joy of it. Like you would if you were a kid without adult responsibilities. As kids, most of us were not worried about being productive. I was actually very productive as a kid, in the sense that I produced a ton of creative work (stories, drawings, clothes for my stuffed animals….) but not in the sense of “I NEED TO GET STUFF DONE BECAUSE PRODUCTIVITY IS THE THING”. I was really just creating because it was fun. And, I played just because it was fun.
I think I mentioned this on another episode recently, but I don’t believe we play enough as adults. It feels “frivolous,” “pointless,” “unproductive” to play. But play and doing things just for fun is so deeply nourishing. Nourishment in general, actually, is something I don’t think we prioritize enough as adults. When we think of health, we often think of “fixing,” “solving,” “cleansing,” but not so much of nourishing. Which is incredibly important. This is something I’ve learned from my herbalism practice, something I’ve gotten more deeply into. This goes back to that idea of creative compost - you want the soil for your creative work to be nourishing, nurturing, and fertile. I believe that joy and fun and play really add a lot to the fertility of your creative soil. So if you want your creative work to be healthy and nourished, you need to tend to that soil.
Some ways that I’ve done this as an adult are: exploring interests just because they’re interesting, not because they are necessarily going to get me something or lead me somewhere. I have played with photography and learned about interior design and styling, just because I think they’re fascinating and fun.
Something else I’ve done is gone for outings just because I feel like it. Not errands where I need to buy a certain thing, or power walks because I need the exercise, but window shopping in places that I think are really cool and slow meandering in places that I think are really pretty. I think that going places and doing things without an agenda helps me connect to my intuition, because I can really just lean into what feels right in each moment.
I also want to acknowledge that this is hard to do sometimes. It feels challenging to let myself go on a “pointless” outing, without also tacking on an errand or a chore. As an adult in this world that we live in, it is hard to take myself out of the mindset of needing to be productive all the time. But, I think it’s worth doing anyway - I’ve certainly gotten a lot out of it. It’s made me more joyful and more in touch with the little joyful and creative child version of myself, and that has served both my personal life and my creative work.
To wrap up, I want to ask you a few questions. If it resonates with you, I’d encourage you to take a few minutes to journal or otherwise reflect on these.
When you look for artistic inspiration, are you looking inside your medium or outside? How about inside or outside your genre?
What about the work that inspires you is the most inspiring? What exactly do you admire about it?
How can you allow more time for play and fun and perhaps even frivolity? What do you want to try doing, just because it sounds fun? Where do you want to go, just for the sake of going?
As always, thank you so much for listening to this episode. I really appreciate it. If you know another creative sole who might enjoy this podcast, I’d also be so grateful if you passed this episode along to them.
Over the next week, until the next episode comes out, I’d love to stay in touch! Links to my website and socials are in the show notes, and you are always welcome to send me a message with a question or a hello. Also in the show notes are links to a workshop on December 14th all about alchemizing your creative workspace so that you can make more art. We’ll be using self-reflection, some feng shui insights, and practical tips to help set up your creative workspace, and I’m also going to do a mini deep dive one-on-one session with one participant’s creative workspace. I’m really excited and I’d love to see you there!
I also have a few free coaching calls available this fall, so if you would like any support creating a more consistent creative practice so that you can make more art, I’d love to be part of that! That link’s also in the show notes.
I hope you have a beautiful week, and until next time, remember to never wear boring socks.
