A little background story for you, First name / babe. I started a photography business in 2012, when I was just 16 years old. The passion started long before that, but when I was gifted my first DSLR camera at 14 it became an obsession. Fast forward 5 years later in 2017, I was holding my acceptance letter to the School of Visual Art & Design in Manhattan (true story, see below). |
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But life has a way of making its own story, doesn't it? The truth is, I never made it to SVA due to a series of unfortunate life events and a devastating divorce; I ended up a University of Houston art school dropout only 4 semesters away from a degree with a major in Fine Art & minor in Art History. 🥴 My biggest takeaway from that chapter of life? Creativity has many versions of itself. The beautiful thing about creativity is that it shows itself in millions of forms. It's not just art, or content, or music. It's words, and feelings, and skills. Creativity is emotion, magnetism, and relationships. Creativity runs deeper than just what you produce, it's how you impact the world and touch the people around you. You are creative AF, First name / babe. You hear me? You have ideas that no one else has. You have experiences that only you have experienced. You bring energy into the world that is unique and magnetic. And you have all the power you need to turn that energy into creativity and make some fucking amazing things. In case you needed to hear it today, you are one hell of a human and I know you are going to make magic. ✨ |
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One of the many things I learned from those years of art school is that when we're feeling uncreative, or stuck, or can't seem to tap into that magical space, it's usually because we're a) looking in all the wrong places or b) aren't feeding our creativity. I know as an online business owner, being creative is a huge piece to the puzzle. Between reels, and content creation, and creating a magnetic brand–creativity fuels our success. If you've been lacking creativity and inspiration, here are a few quick tips to help you tap into that spark: - Stop Consuming–the more we consume others' content, the easier it is to forget what our own looks like. Step away from the phone and internet. Get outside and let your mind wander. No social media, no magazines. Just you and your beautiful mind. Bring a notepad and let your ideas flow naturally. You'd be surprised what can surface when we stop stifling what's already there.
- Get Artsy–When was the last time you took a trip to a museum? Like a real life gallery? Maybe it's never, maybe it's been a while. Head to a museum (preferably a medium you're not particularly familiar with), and let it all sink in–the colors, the textures, the smells, the meaning, even the people there. Inspiration is often found in the most unlikely places, and usually it flows best from the things/places we are not trying to imitate.
- Mind Map–I can't remember where I originally learned this exercise, but it's quite fascinating. Grab a piece of paper (a real one, not a Google doc) and start with a word, topic, or something you are wanting to tap into (for example, let's say I was brainstorming for this newsletter, I'd start with NEWSLETTER). For each idea or thought that comes to mind, add a bubble and jot it down. When you've dumped every idea related to NEWSLETTER, move onto each of those ‘sub topics’ or ‘bubbles' and drop down everything elated to those in another layer of bubbles. These could be topics, words, phrases, ideas. Literally whatever comes to mind. Throw on some Lo-Fi tunes, and 20 minutes later you'll be stunned with the mind map you've stemmed from the one thing you're working on. Pic below grabbed from Google for example:
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Show yourself some love today, First name / babe. |
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