Inspiration for Creativity

So you’re here because you’re looking for inspiration for creativity. You thought that google might have the answer to this burning question. Perhaps you’re stuck, stressed, or simply uninspired.

I’m here to help. Help you so that I can help myself. I’m here to help both of us find flow again and tame the muse.

You know ‘flow’ right? That elusive feeling when you get in the zone and the creative juices are flowing. Let’s see if we can find our long lost friend the muse.

searching for the muse

If you follow this blog, my feed, or happen to know me personally then you know I’ve been studying creativity lately. In reality, I’ve been studying creativity since childhood but I’ve been researching it more intently and have even taught a few “Yoga and Creativity” workshops.

Talk about a search for flow!

Two things that I have become increasingly interested in are:

Finding flow/creativity through exercise
Finding flow/creativity through nature

So you can imagine the next step is exercise in nature. (Hence the True Nature Tribe outdoor yoga photography project.)

My personal experience and research have led me to believe that these two ingredients are key to connecting to creativity. There’s something about a focused, immersive experience that gets us out of our heads enough to make way for flow and creativity. When you’re silenced by the beauty of nature or intensity of a workout, you’re more able to listen to something beyond your mental chatter about your to-do list.

Research supports other things too. Things such as music, change of scenery, mindset/affirmations, colors, sounds, and mentorships. More on those in a minute.

Essentially, it seems like finding inspiration for creativity is all about our habits and things that we have control over. Interesting.

Here’s the rub friend. The Muse has not abandoned you. You have abandoned her, you have stopped listening.

Don’t ask me why. Ask yourself.

staring down the muse

Just humor me for a moment and believe that you have infinite creativity, you have something you’re supposed to create, and that the inspiration for creativity is already within you. You simply need to let it out.

If that’s true, then you have control over the actions you can take to reclaim your creativity. The responsibility is yours. No more blaming writers block or an absent muse.

Two things. 1. I know it’s not easy. The reason I know this is because I struggle with this exact thing daily. I grab every book on creativity I can get my hands on. 2. I’m going to help you and share what I’ve learned.

taming the muse

So let’s go back to that questions and ask yourself, why have you abandoned the muse? Common reasons include but are not limited to: fear, limiting beliefs, societal pressures, self-doubt, lack of time, lack of routine, lack of support. Thus, it follows that if we deal with some of these issues we might free up space and time for creativity.

Unfortunately, there’s no button on my website that I can have you click to instantly find inspiration. Creativity has an element of practice to it. The good news is that it can get easier to access, it’s all about finding the triggers.

Fears, limiting beliefs, self-doubt, and societal pressures are challenges that many artists deal with. There’s a reason that math seems safer than art. When you can say with certainty that the answer is correct it’s different than waiting to see if someone likes or hates your creation.

I’ve written a few post lately on these topics:

Creativity Test – essentially the answer is yes, you are creative. The sooner you can bring yourself to believe it in your bones, the sooner you can find what makes you tick.
These tools on developing a Creative Mindset are a great start to battling those limiting beliefs.
And these tools are for helping increase our Creative Potential. Guess what? We can use the same tools we use to shift our mindset to help us increase our creativity

But it all comes down to this. Realize that you are creative, shift your mindset, and then be creative. Do the things creative people do.

Stop waiting for the Muse, she’s waiting for you to get going!

letting the muse tame you

There’s one issue that some of the above times don’t address. Finding time is a newly poignant struggle for me as a mom of two small kids and a business owner. Who has time for creativity when we have mouths to feed and bills to pay?

What I have discovered is that time is both a real struggle and an excuse.

Yes, I do really have a million things to do. But I also use that to push working on my creative endeavors to the bottom of my list. Then I can blame my to-do list which feels pretty good sometimes.

trusting the muse

This is where I’m hoping not to lose you.

People often talk about creativity as this elusive thing. Ideas are floating around in the ether and we’re hoping to grasp them. Inspiration is like a force that we’re hoping to tame or get struck by.

Scientists talk about creativity in how our brain works. They talk about the role of both genetics and experience (cue creative potential for all!) They talk about our ability to develop our creativity.

I like hearing both. I like knowing that creativity is a process in the brain that we can train and impact with practices or experiences. Also, I like the idea that creativity is a calling.

Comparison, competition, and jealousy are rampant in our social media culture. It’s one of the reasons we wrote our free Build Your Life e-guide. Stop following other people dreams, build a life and creative business you love.

You are uniquely creative. Creativity is all about new ideas and the idea you are capable of coming up with is something only you can do. Your way of looking at the world and your collective experiences combine to give you that inspiration for creativity you are looking for.

Stop waiting for inspiration to strike. Put good habits in place, do the work, and then trust the process. Let me know how it goes/

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I’m Brenda Bergreen, one grateful half of a husband and wife photography team specializing in outdoor weddings and other adventures. Capturing people in nature and the mountain lifestyle is a passion that became a dream (that became a goal) that became a life.

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Based in Evergreen, CO we travel throughout the state as Colorado mountain and adventure wedding photographers. We also frequently travel to California and other wedding destinations to document your love in a variety of memorable settings. Don’t hesitate to contact us and let us know how we can help! Be sure to follow us (weddings instagram & adventures instagram) and/or like us (facebook) to stay tuned.

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