How To Find Inspiration and Let Creativity Shine… and a Giveaway!

I’ve slowly been tip toeing back to this space, to this special place, where words meet emotions and strike up a balance that flows sometimes seamlessly and sometimes trickles a bit randomly. It’s my creative place, and after some time off, I’m feeling ready to swing the bat again and aim for the sky. I think I need some warming up though. The creativity faucet looks like it’s running at a trickle, and though I’m writing down plenty of ideas, I feel a little lost at the plate, not knowing where to look or what to swing at first. Words are coming slowly, and I keep finding myself in a stare. At a blank screen. A few letters in and the backspace key takes over. Maybe tip toe wasn’t even the right word for it. It’s more like a back-step.

Inspiration is something I crave, but it’s not something I can create from nothing. Like a sailor at sea, I need wind to guide my sail. But there is something I can do in the meantime, I can shift my sails, I can adjust. And just like wind, creativity is there. It always it.

I read an article sharing that flashes of inspiration and bursts of creative ideas are actually rooted in science, that everywhere we’ve been and everything we’ve read, tasted, viewed, experienced and learned is stored in our brain as unrelated connections. When we’re too busy, stressed out or our schedules don’t allow a margin of time for our brain to make those connections, creativity suffers.

That’s why so many people, myself included, get their best ideas in the shower… a place of escape for me, away from noise, phones, email and usually, interruptions. When your body can relax, it allows time for your mind to connect the dots and make solutions, it allows your creativity to shine.

Though I’ve taken some time away from the computer, I haven’t really slowed my mind. We’ve been in a kind of post-holiday-house-cleansing while we sort through closets and pack up items that we’re sending to a mission we work with in Honduras, a mission that educates and takes care of underprivileged and orphaned children. I’ve been pulling out everything from clothes to toys to blankets and my kids are answering the question, “Do I really need this, or can another child that doesn’t have one use it more?” So far, I’m a proud mama, as they’ve been generous in their giving. And I know this cleansing/sorting phase will come along soon enough in the pregnancy, so I’m happy to have a slight head start.

So with a clean slate of the new year, and a clean(er) house, I’m ready to grow. Sometimes resolutions get a bad rap, probably because many of us set lofty goals or crazy restrictions and then break them almost before the year starts. I haven’t really set any resolutions for this year yet, at least not on paper, but some goals? To get out and do something out of the norm, to change up my routine and resist the urge to stay busy… giving my brain time to rest and letting inspiration follow. Wanting to change stems from a desire to use some of the untapped potential that I know exists in me, it exists in all of us. And this is a healthy thing. If I am the same exact person I was a year ago, it means that I’ve gone twelve months without learning anything. So will read better books and more often, I will escape to the beach for a quick sunset or a relaxing morning more often, I will take my daughter for a picnic or my son for ice cream, I will visit a museum or watch a play. And wherever these new places take me, I will learn to simply be.

“I can’t change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination.” 
~Jimmy Dean

In light of setting resolutions, or at least looking ahead at the new year, have you taken time to get really clear on what you want from 2013? Perhaps you’ve made a list of goals or intentions. I wonder, what would it feel like to spend 4 weeks reflecting deeply and mindfully to create a clear vision of a truly fulfilling year? What if you can make 2013 your best year yet?

Thanks to a new sponsor, one of you sweet readers will receive the new e-course FulFILL Your Year for free and can join me on the journey. Just leave a comment on this post to enter!

FulFILL Your Year is here to give you all that and more. FulFILL Your Year is a 4 week e- course presented by Kelly Dahl. From January 14th – February 8th, Kelly will lead you through journal prompts, videos and creative exercises designed to help you uncover what you want out of the new year, and then guide you in how to make it all happen. It is all delivered straight to your email inbox with a whole lot of love. There is also a private Facebook group to help you connect with the other women in the course. FulFILL Your Year will lead you to a better understanding of you so that you feel more joy, more love and like you can do anything you set your mind to.

2013 is going to be amazing!