Wednesday, June 6, 2018

How to use the world as your inspiration


My Wednesday series is all about finding inspiration to create. Whilst mainly I focus on writing, other artists may use these ideas to their benefit as well.
Whether you are an artist, or blogger like myself: we know we need to dance our dance with inspiration. When you feel stuck, it's time to get out of your comfort zone and move into world for a while.

When you visit a place or experience that is unknown to you, and you really make it a thing to open up yourself, be full of wonder, and have the curiosity of a child learning new things, you will find that you are a magnet for inspiration to come.
But how do we move out of that comfort zone and create those experiences?
Well, here are my ideas.

Create a jar of wishes

I came up with an idea a few years ago to get me out of my slump. I created a jar of wishes. On little wish notes I wrote down all the experiences I wanted to have, folded them up and put them in my wish jar. Once in a while I take out a note, and put to action what's on them.
I did a blog post the other day on this. You can read that post here.
It's so much fun!

Say yes to an unusual invite

We all may know that person that is trying to challenge us out of that comfort zone.
They may want us to do something that is completely out of it.
There's a guy I know that is hosting open mic nights all around The Netherlands.
He's been trying to challenge me to try out stand up comedy myself.
To be honest it is something I would love to try, and that I am terrified of.
If I were to ever try this out, I promise to blog about it!

Create your own 100 days journey
It's been a thing around the Internet. One example is the 100 days happy challenge where you take a photo a 100 days in a row of a thing that makes you happy.
It will shift your focus to the positive and open up new vibes for you.
My own 100 days journey was related to my qualities.
For a 100 days I kept a journal on the 100 best sides of me. The other one I did was a 100 days of exercise. One hour daily.
If you want to know more, you can find the information on my 100 days section.

Find a different place to blog
Why stay stuck in your room? Take your laptop or notebook and get out there!
Go to a park, a cute coffee place and write over there. Different surroundings, different perspectives.

Talk to someone you don't know

This requires some balls. For many it's not easy to approach a stranger.
Remember this though: most of us will want to connect with another person, yet we are all scared.
It helped me to approach people.
The other day I connected with a girl in my favourite coffee place. She was reading a book by herself, and I commented on the writer and told her that I love his work. She agreed with me, later came over to my table and invited me to try out the karate class she's in. Spontaneous meetings are the best!
Key here is to just be open. I don't know how about you, but I'm less likely to talk to someone that looks grumpy and closed.



Do what you love

And please do not give me any of that: "I don't have time" - nonsense
You can create time for what you love. Even in the busiest of schedules.
It's a matter of choosing your priorities and saying NO to things that are no real obligation.
In her book: The magic of not giving a fuck Sarah Knight talks about those priorities in an unconventional way. Here's that Ted Talk about the book. I really recommend watching it! 



Now that I've shared my ideas, I am curious about yours.
What is it in the outside world that brings you inspiration?
And...
Which of the above ideas are most important to you? Love and blessings always,
Rainbow


21 comments:

  1. Getting out and taking my work to a coffee shop or even the garden has such a huge positive impact on my work and productivity some days. It really helps! Fab post lovely and full of great tips :) x x
    Ellis // http://www.elliswoolley.co.uk

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    1. I fully agree Ellis, I love taking my work elsewhere. It just helps so much. Always being the same place gets boring sometimes for me. It's great how other surroundings inspire :)

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  2. Beautiful post full of positivity and motivating you to open up and enjoy life

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    1. aww thank you hun. I am glad this pleased you :)

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  3. A lot of my writing focuses on miscommunications and misunderstandings, so one of my favourite place for inspiration is other people's points of view. Sometimes this is simply overhearing what someone else thinks about a TV programme or reading a Twitter thread from a lawyer or medic about a topic that's been represented in the media.

    I live on the North Kent coast and it's the Whitstable Biennale this week, so I'm being completely spoiled for inspiration! I'm going to talks that have nothing to with my own creative work because I find the questions/discussions at the end can spark ideas.

    Sarah Marie Graye | https://sarahmariegraye.com

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    1. I fully agree and I think it's wonderful you get out the comfort zone to do it! When you open up to other topics, you may find that you will be inspired by them. I even got jobs thinking like that.
      Whilst wanting to do social work for families and customer service seem to have nothing in common, I was able to get the job telling them I am there to develop my conversational & professional skills for my future work. When I said it like that, they saw the connection too and hired me :)

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  4. Love the 100 days of happy challenge! I might start that in July! Great tips!

    Kay xx
    www.mummywho.com

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    1. Cool kay ! I am looking forward to following your journey. I think you will love it!

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  5. These are some really great ideas, I especially love the wish jar idea!

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    1. Thank you hun :)
      Give it a try if you want to ;)

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  6. This is a great post with so many fab ideas! I think creatively, we can certainly find inspiration from anywhere and everywhere!

    Jenny
    http://www.jennyinneverland.com

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    1. Yes yes we certainly can! And this is a great thing <3

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  7. I love how many amazing ideas you've included here. For me, I definitely think getting out of the house and going to a coffee shop works wonders! It's amazing how much inspiration you can get just from doing a little people watching x

    Sophie
    www.glowsteady.co.uk

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    1. I love people watching! I always play this game where I think about what kind of person they are and what life they have. It's deffo so interesting <3

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  8. I love the jar of wishes idea, I might try that! I also love the idea of 100 days happy challenge but I can never stick with stuff like that. I always get to day twenty something and then start forgetting. I definitely think I need to get out of my room to blog just for a change of scenery and to get a little more inspiration. These are some great ideas!

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    1. Thank you Megan, trust me that i have some efforts that I failed in 100 days. The key is to plan it as much as you can. That has made that I succeeded in some of these ^^
      And yes, get out there for that change of scenery. It's good <3

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  9. I love how every time I come to your blog, I feel so motivated to kick butt XD. I really like the idea of having a jar of wishes. Pretty cool that you can go back and see what you really wanted before. Oooh! I like that 100 days journey idea. It's already hard to find time to document what happened but when you put it together at the end, it could look cool!

    Talking to some stranger could lead to good things. I did that and ended up finding a best friend XD. Thanks for sharing these ideas!

    Nancy ♥ exquisitely.me

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    1. How cool that a stranger became your best friend. I love that!
      Maybe write about it some time ? ;) I am so glad that I get to inspire you nancy. It's an honor really <3

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  10. I love this. I totally agree with Nancy - your blog is such an inspiration for me to be a better person. Anyways, accepting unusual invites is something I should consider doing one of these days - I like to stay home or if I do go out, I end up going out with the usual people. Maybe hanging out with other people won't be too bad?

    cabin twenty-four

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    1. It's amazing what could happen when you really connect to others. When you are open to the new, you can really enjoy yourself as well.
      I am still overthinking that stand up comedy thing way too much.
      But so far I conquered giving a speech about acceptance. I was so proud because public speaking is scary as heck!

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  11. The jar of wishes is so much fun!
    I shall use it more than I have. It really sparks the inspiration too :)

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