How To Find Your Inspiration

Have you ever been stumped that you can't get motivated to do anything?  Forgotten how to find your inspiration?  Don't know how to begin?  Or have you just plain gotten in a rut and need to refocus and rejuvenate your spirits and your creativity?

You aren't alone.  We all have times when we get stuck and need to find our inspiration to move on in our creative journeys.  For writers it is called Writer's Block.  And I would say for artist's we would call it Artist's Block or Finding the Whole.

If you haven't seen this video, I would suggest you watch it.  It's very inspiring.  He has a very authentic way of speaking and talking about the life of an artist or a writer or any other sort of creative soul.  We all need to listen to this and fill our vessels with new unknown discoveries.  And he has a good sense of humor.  I should watch it again as I haven't seen it in a while.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYlCVwxoL_g

I just started subscribing to him to see what new stuff he is talking about.  Very interesting frame of mind.
Inspiration is everywhere around us.  You just have to go shopping around and looking for it.  You're surrounded by it every day and just don't always see all the beauty.  We can't help it.  We miss things.  Everything in this world has the potential to capture our souls and tell us to create.

Here is a list of places where you could possibly find inspiration:

magazines
art by others
photography
music
clip art
free fonts and printouts
other people's blogs
the vastness of the internet
your neighborhood park
flowers in other peoples yards
nature
coffee shops
shopping
yard saling
thrift shops
watching movies and tv
your children, family and friends
your community
your mind of course
fabrics and textiles
crafters
wildlife
by reading novels
reading books on blogging and writing and art
anything surrounding you

And on and on.

Travel to it.  Sometimes I find myself just riding around with my camera in hand and stop anywhere where I see an image I want to photograph.  I do this at different times of the year.

Watch how people dress.  You never know because you may be inspired.  Maybe the girl next to you with the turtleneck and zebra print skirt on is going to be the next romantic heroine in your novel.  Just saying.  Or she could be inspiration for a new artistic masterpiece.  Some people can simply draw from memory. 

Maybe you will be inspired by a new object that is a must have.  Try writing a post about why you wanted it and why it inspired you?  Was it because it was beautiful and you just wanted it to brighten your day?  Did you need it to make you feel better?  Were you angry about something and wanted to go shopping to release the tension and the object you bought made you forget for a little bit? 

Whatever the reason was, you needed it.

Is it the process that inspires you or is it the fact you have reached your end result?  I enjoy both.

No matter what, we need to continue to find new inspiration every day.  We have this primary instinct to feed off others, as long as we don't ever mimic their creativity.  We need to remain authentic and original to ourselves or else we are lying to our creations.

In no matter what I do, I always try to stay true to myself and create from my mind.  Everything comes from my head with a little help from inspiration from others. 

We always look at inspiration and see qualities that we like.  Then we say to ourselves, "I could create something kind of like that but in my own expression."

And once in a while we feel the need just to draw something that we see from a photo.  I've done it before.  Especially from family photos.  And occasionally I have been inspired to draw from an image I liked.

It's sometimes fun to see if you can get a perfect likeness.

So, whatever it may be, try to find inspiration and often.  Don't stop looking.  Others may know something that you don't and you can always learn from them.

Something my Mom once said was, "Always read, read, read."  It was so important. 

Remember as a child that everyone always wanted us to read?  You don't learn by not reading.  A book or a piece of artwork is a very important thing and it should never be banned or burned.

Jennifer Jo Fay

Copyrighted August 17, 2012

My cat, Luna.  She is a Siamese mix.  She is a lovey dovey cat.  When I come home at night she climbs up to me when I'm standing and wants hugs and kisses.

You can always find inspirations in flowers and nature.  Nature continues to prosper each and every day.

Look for inspirations in angels.  There are angels among us and my Mom is one.

My Mom and Dad and that's me behind them in my Junior years.  This was a family picture and I took a close up of my parents.

One of my drawings I did about six or seven years ago.  I think it got ripped up.  It's from a doll that I drew and imagined what the body would look like with bubbles.  I did a bunch of nude drawings from my dolls at a certain point and I think I ended up cutting out the nudity part.  I probably shouldn't have cut it up.  I love the bubble effect in this picture.  I guess I was a little embarrassed of drawing nude pictures and wanted to erase it.

But we shouldn't be embarrassed by it.  I'm modest and I guess I was embarrassed that I was finding myself draw it.  I shouldn't be embarrassed by it anymore as it is provocative and beautiful at the same time.

I like nudity art and photography for inspiration as long as it's tastefully done.