Inspiration[ˌinspəˈrāSH(ə)n]NOUN
- the process of being mentally stimulated to do or feel something, especially to do something creative.
What inspires us? Who inspires us? Should we always act on those inspirations?
For me, these questions have so many answers that I can probably write a novel about it. Instead, I will write about a few that come to mind.
The first one is people, specifically people that overcome odds and never give up and or are considered the “underdogs” I love hearing the stories of people that had everything against them but somehow surpassed it all and succeeded. If that doesn’t inspire you then I don’t know what does. These people never make excuses, never complain and just go for it. It causes us to really check ourselves and ask why are we complaining and making excuses for ourselves? Imagine all the amazing things we could accomplish if we erased the excuses and complaints within ourselves. Really think about it, go ahead I’ll wait…
The second one that comes to mind is artists who use their craft to give back to others, doing things with a sense of purpose. I mean, we are all on this journey called life and searching for some kind of purpose, right? When we combine our passion with a true purpose it takes us to another level that words can’t describe, go ahead and try it, trust me! Since 2015 I have been participating in Help Portrait http://help-portrait.com/ the concept is simple, get a team together, find an organization that gives back to the less fortunate, team up with them, take their photos, print them out and gift them. Before this, I had no idea you can do something like this using your creative craft. This whole movement was co-founded by one of my favorite photographers Jeremy Cowart. https://www.jeremycowart.com/about/ He is a true inspiration and mentor, love the guy!
The third is traveling. No matter how near or far you travel there is always inspiration. The sights, the sounds, the people, the food, the culture. You set foot on new territory and instantly become inspired. Sometimes it’s so overwhelming (in a good way) that you can’t handle it. You have this urge to capture everything in sight (that’s me) or write a poem, a song or maybe draw or paint, whatever your craft is, it definitely feeds it. The times I’ve traveled, I’ve been so inspired that I don’t want to leave those magical places. The inspirations are not always creative, they are also personal, professional, etc… Go do some traveling and see what I mean.
And last but not least, being around other artists/creatives. I mean duh! We artists inspire each other no matter our craft. We can have a casual conversation and boom! (but are they ever really just casual?) These conversations can last for hours and when you’re all done, everyone has a million ideas. For me, these conversations with fellow artists have inspired me in so many ways. They have sparked ideas for projects for myself, helped in projects for clients, we have come up with projects to collaborate on and even inspired me to stop overthinking an idea and just make it happen (the overthinking is a work in progress) Just being around other creatives gives you a sense of being a part of something special, like some sort of club. We see the world differently and interpret it through our art.
To all my fellow creatives, keep the inspiration alive and inspire others. Let’s keep this beautiful cycle going till the end of time.
Creatively Crazy 