More than anything in this world I want to be someone who is identified with creativity, someone who dives deep and comes up with fresh and interesting ideas.
But...I'm often blocked and when that happens I tend to allow frustration to win, throwing my hands up and walking away. Recently, I realized that not having a creative outlet also upset other areas of my life. The blockage was forcing word vomit and negativity out of my mouth. I decided to jumpstart my creative endeavors (one of the reasons I'm forcing myself to blog for an entire month!) and here are some of the tricks I used.
Free Writing
I recently signed up for a Yoga & Writing Workshop and it was so eye-opening. Typically, yoga is designed to force you to remove yourself from your thoughts. In this class, we were encouraged to think and break poses to jot down anything that came to mind. At the time, I was really stressing out about a huge life change and what the right decision was. After the yoga, we were guided through free writing exercises that forced me to keep pen to paper and not stop.
It was the most refreshing practice I've ever tried and really opened me up to dealing with what I was going through because I couldn't stop. Free writing gives you ideas when you're feeling blocked and taps into your creative side because you're forced to pound on the door until it opens.
Exercise/Movement
When I was in college, I used to get on the elliptical for thirty minutes and I would imagine these crazy scenarios the entire time - the time flew. Moving my body really got the ideas flowing and I was focused in this time frame to let my thoughts and daydreams drift. After I got home, I would jot down the main ideas and used them for most of my creative writing pieces. The elliptical doesn't provide me with the same motivation it once did, but walks around my neighborhood have proven to be successful!
Creeping
Yes, you are reading that correctly. Nothing can be more inspirational than the self-imagine life of a stranger and there are two ways you can do it - publicly or privately. In public, I'll sit in the cafeteria at work with a book propped in front of me or
Privately, I'll set a timer and for twenty minutes I will surf Instagram through the Search and bounce through suggestions, seeking "regular" people (celebrities aren't great for this task because they already have a narrative they are striving to tell). I'll glance through the lives they choose to post and imagine scenarios to put them in, what their personalities are like, whether they speak to their parents or not.
Creating my own stories through real people is entertaining and a fun game. I've created lots of characters and received interesting inspiration in fashion and decor through the various strangers I've encountered.
Change Your Routine
When I'm stuck in a rut, I'll lie on my couch and stare at the ceiling and pick apart all of the things failing in my life. Yeah, that's productive.
So I'll move my couch to the other side of the room. Change my bed sheets to a new color. Sometimes, I get used to seeing the same things every day and it clouds up my vision, making it difficult to draw inspiration from the little things.
I'm a huge believer in seeing things from a different perspective to try and understand another's perspective. Moving things around or adjusting the time I wake up and go to bed are simple but they allow me to view my world from a new angle.
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Do you have any tricks you use to motivate creativity? If so, share them down below!
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