Idea Inspiration: Creativity Spawns More Creativity

Inertia: A tendency to do nothing or to remain unchanged. 

For me, creativity suffers from a major case of inertia. When nothing is flowing, it feels impossible to get ideas moving. But once I wake the elusive Genius, ideas seem to flow so freely. Whatever speed at which creativity begins moving, it seems to want to stay at that pace and avoid change (much like most of life I suppose).

Some days I have a gazillion post ideas firing through my mind and can’t seem to write them down fast enough. It feels like a rush of inspiration racing past my brain and, if not careful, ideas not “caught” will become missed opportunities. It actually reminds me of a Ted Talk I watched several months ago by Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat, Pray, Love and Big Magic, in which she discusses her creative “genius.” I discussed the talk a while back as well.

In the talk, she refers to another friend who uses an analogy that her ideas rumble toward her like an heard of buffalo storming over rolling hills. And if she didn’t immediately sit down to capture all the ideas and inspiration as they passed, they would be gone. The ideas were not hers, but those of her genius who elected to show up and share its creativity or pass her by, out of her control.

At times, I feel like this is me. Don’t get me wrong – on other days, my rush of ideas looks more like a dried up river, empty of any sort of life or energy. I suspect you may have had those days, blog writer or not. We all need inspiration at various times in our lives for one thing or another and, some days, we’ve just got nothin’.

But I wanted to share with you today some of the places I find inspiration for new ideas – new blog post ideas, new things to talk about with my clients at oh-so-scary networking events, new outfits to wear to the office, new ideas for whatever realm of my life is requiring me to think beyond regularly brushing my teeth and showering.

When I feel these aforementioned surges of ideas ready to bust out of my brain, I do my best to take notes as a draft post, in my phone, on a stray sheet of paper, or wherever I can find to forever lock them somewhere to return to them at a later (and more convenient) time. Ultimately, they all end up in Evernote. If you haven’t tried Evernote, it’s the best one stop shop for replacing your memory. And since I pretty much have no memory, Evernote has been a lifesaver. (For the record, it does a lot more than replace my memory and organize my thoughts. But you can take a deeper dive if you’re interested.)

In my blogging life, that more convenient time might be say, when I can actually sit down and write the entire post while at the computer. In my personal style journey, that might be when I’m actually in my closet and not day dreaming up potential outfits while stuck in Chicago’s gridlock traffic on the way home from a client visit. But I’m not always so lucky. At times, I snag the ideas from the storm racing past me enough to remember down the road all the wonderful prose that was flowing through my mind. Other times, however, I miss the spark entirely or can’t capture enough to come back to it in its entirety later on. I can only hope it takes another run past my mental creativity claws so I have a second chance to scoop it up, groom it, and share it with you.

But on days when the engulfing heard of ideas from my Genius isn’t running across the open Serengeti of my mind or safely parked in Evernote, I have to work a bit harder to energize and wake up that Genius. As we all experience those mentally exhausted, uninspired days, I wanted to share with you a few of the places I start searching in hopes of finding the right energy to rejuvenate my Genius and some example posts born from each source.

Twitter Feed

I follow other bloggers in my niche as well as several who write about topics very different from my own. I also follow many Twitter users who operate in spaces tangent to my blog space or that I just find interesting on their own accord. Links to great articles that “make me think” filter into my feed regularly. When something strikes my curiosity or my creative Genius, I favorite the tweet, memorialize any mental notes that popped into my head in Evernote, and trust I have a reserve of inspiration for an uninspired day.

(FYI: I use IFTTT, a web-based application that automates various routine tasks. It stands for If This Than That. When I favorite a tweet, a new note in Evernote is created which includes a tagline from and link to that tweet ensuring it’s parked in a safe place for me to return to later. I can then add notes or comments directly in that note and, often, begin writing many of my posts in Evernote with their corresponding inspiration.)

You NEED To Know About The Skimm (I found both The Skimm and Farnam Street through Twitter)

Pinterest 

To be Pinspired~ Isn’t inspiration the whole point of this platform? We’ve created a whole new word to worship the high level at which Pinterest has inspired us. Although it’s obvious, I’ll summarize my sources of idea generation from this lovely site.

I have a The Business of Business Casual board and a Casual Chic board that both serve as great fuel for my creative personal style fire. I borrowed lists of blog post ideas (on my Business of Blogging board, or hiding out on my secret Blog Ideas board – we all need some special, secret source for really desperate days) from so many others who have created more specific topics that might get my creative Genius revved up. See my series on Using Pinterest to Maximize Your Wardrobe for specific tips on collecting the components pinned to these boards.

Series: Using Pinterest to Maximize Your Wardrobe
Follow Your Favorite Bloggers
Curate Color Combinations
Peruse For A Particular Piece
Follow Your Followers
Items / Patterns You Already Own
or

Long Scarf For Casual Friday

Other Blogs

I use Bloglovin’ and Feedly to provide a central feed of the latest posts from my favorite bloggers. I mark as “favorite” or “pin” to Pinterest posts that excite, impress or influence me to return to them again at a later date. (Here also I use Evernote and IFTTT. When I mark a post in Feedly as “Save for Later” a similar note to that described above from a favorited tweet is generated in Evernote for later reference.)

Link ups have been a great way to find new inspiring bloggers as well. I host a weekly Sophisticated Style Link Up each Monday and so many other bloggers host similar forums as well. While I would never copy another writer’s ideas, I have used fellow bloggers’ posts as starting points for my own posts; I may post a response to their post, may follow tips or tricks they share and blog about my execution, or just share another spin on the same topic.

Get Redressed: Refashion Roundup (thank you Greater Than Rubies)
Style Posts: Real Life vs. Dress Up
Leaders Are Readers (born out of Thoughtful Third Thursdays from My Closet Catalogue)

 

Books, Magazines & Periodicals

For me, I read the Wall Street Journal, the daily local business updates, In Style, and when in line at the grocery store or in a doctor’s office waiting room, the trashy tabloids that feel like a bad car accident – you want to look away but you just can’t help yourself. When I come across something that just might be good food to nourish my Genius, I pull out Evernote (on my phone) and make some notes for later.