How To Be an Inspired Person
Before we get started, I just wanted to acknowledge how much I appreciate your support. I thank you for liking, following, and listening. This is why I spent weeks on this blog post, I feel as if my regular content isn’t normally up-to-par, but I really wanted to take my time on this one. It’s a topic that I’ve struggled with in years past, and I truly believe that this platform has helped me to become an inspired person. Now, on to our regularly scheduled programming…
Here’s How To Be an Inspired Person
I was considering putting this post into steps, but I feel as though it creates a list that you must follow to be inspired. I decided against this, and to instead use bullet points, because being inspired isn’t about following lists or doing what people say. This is just what has worked for me in my personal experience.
Change Your Attitude
Stay in Touch with Yourself and Your Emotions
I have a feeling that a lot of people have no idea how to do this, and it’s completely understandable. In today’s society, we tend to shut down instead of tune in to our emotions. This isn’t healthy for neither the mind nor the body. Not being in touch with your emotions can even lead to depression. Now, don’t go thinking bubble baths are the answer. Self-care isn’t always pampering yourself, in fact, it can be ugly. My favorite way of staying in touch with myself is through yoga. It can sometimes give me a good workout which keeps me disciplined in everyday life, and overall more productive. Other times it can be relaxing, and a very self-oriented experience. It’s never selfish to take care of yourself.
Create a Minimalist Life Wherever Possible
A lot of people think they could never be a minimalist, just like they think they couldn’t be a vegetarian. Those are the type of people that don’t have an open mindset, and if you’re one of those people; make one. Having an open mindset about trying things you think you can’t do is the best way to help yourself progress in life and learn who you are. It’s basically an essential utility, like water, but for risk-takers. Creating a minimalist life wherever possible means to take a step back, and look at what’s cluttering your life. Maybe it’s a negative relationship or a bunch of unnecessary apps on your phone. Whatever it is, it may be distracting you from finding inspiration naturally.
Find Your Inner Child
I watched a TED Talk once about how inspiration is at its peak when we are young. The reason we lose it? The public education system. Now, I’m certainly not telling you to drop out of school-- in fact, school is beneficial for productivity, however, being in an environment where everyone and everything is constantly the same… Well, that’s a different story. The other problem with it is all the varying rules you have to follow-- from dress code to paying attention in class… The list is endless. What I want you to do today, tomorrow or even next year is to bring your inner child back to life. Go out and blow bubbles in the garden, lay on your belly while coloring outside the lines, and just have fun with it!
Places To Go
Go to a Flower Shop
Slow down, and smell the roses. Flower shops are a great place to get inspiration because of the variety of flowers there are. Just as much as I love nails, I also love fashion and I can totally see myself in a flower shop sketching out some designs. If you are a flower hater I deeply apologize since your probably not the most chill person ever. I just think that flowers can come in a variety of colors and even multiple colors which is good for creating color palettes. This is a good tool for interior design, fashion, and of course nail art!
Go to a Café and People Watch
Even if your area is “boring” it’s probably not filled with boring people. One time I went to a local café called Café Fresco and I just people watched. It’s honestly such a cozy place to be, whatever the weather! I was greatly surprised by the number of interesting people walking the square of my so-called “boring” town in Northwest Indiana. I saw many bloggers, Instagrammers, business owners, and fashionistas. It was really eye-opening and kind of showed me that nowhere is boring unless you make it boring.
Things To Try
This Artsy Activity
An activity I once did in a painting class gave me a lot of inspiration: shuffle play different genres of music, and as the music is playing draw how it makes you feel. Easier said than done. This activity can be stressful if you make it stressful. The idea of a blank piece of paper and a pencil sounds about as intimidating as a blinking line on a blank google doc at three in the morning and your paper is due at seven. All you have to do to take away the tension is to start, and don’t worry about fucking it up. Let the music move you, it’s just like pre-writing before moving onto that blank google doc.
Find a New Hobby
I don’t want to try to make this blog post too obvious or cliché, but I think it’s important to take note of the state that you are in. If you are incredibly lazy and procrastinate a lot it’s likely that you aren’t inspired due to unproductivity. A good way to counteract this is by setting up a routine, sticking to it, and finding a new hobby to keep your mind and body active. For this, I highly recommend yoga. For me, yoga was something that really changed my life around for the better. It has helped me to become more productive without using up all of my energy. Obviously this will be different for everyone, but I advise that you try it at least once in your life.
Different Genres
Watch a different genre on youtube or Netflix, or even listen to a different genre of music. I don’t mean to listen or watch to a genre you typically hate (although that can be beneficial to change your point of view). I mean listen to or watch something you’ve maybe never listened to or watched before. I tend to shy away from horror movies, but I have watched a few that aren’t terribly graphic. I recommend watching You Get Me which was a 2017 film and one of the first “thriller” movies I’ve watched. If you prefer TV shows on Netflix then I’d say The Haunting of Hillhouse and Locke & Key. If you’d rather go down the music route, I listen to all sorts of stuff from '80s rock, retro ’60s, french jazz, and even rap. So I can recommend an artist or song from each category. For '80s rock I really like Prince and David Bowie, for retro '60s I like the Andrews Sisters and John Lennon. French music I like Sympathique by Pink Martini and Norah Jones has some chill jazz vibes. I tend to listen to rap from the 2000s and some modern-day, so for those, I really like Chamillionaire, Flo Rida, and Drake.
If You’re Not Already, Get Into Art
I remember a lot of people in elementary school saying that they didn’t like art class because they weren’t good at it. I think that that is a big misconception about art because no matter what it is it doesn’t have to be this idea of “good”. You can paint with gouache using surrealism; you can paint with acrylic using realism. You can do makeup, nails, drawing, cooking, film, photography, or even writing. Just like I’m doing now. Doing something creative, will make you more inspired and being inspired, will make you do something creative.
Cook Up Something New
You can take this literally and go into your kitchen and see what’s in your fridge. What can you make out of what you already have? Someone that inspired me to start doing things like that is Lauren Toyota. Youtuber (Hot For Food), entrepreneur, and home cook. So yes, you can take this literally and do the same as Lauren does in her “Recipe?!” videos. Or, you can take it in the sense that you can “cook up” anything. Just make something, and it doesn’t have to have anything to do with food!
I just really quickly wanted to point out other things that you can do to stay inspired. They didn’t make it into the final copy of this post because they are sort of cliché. Obviously using Pinterest is a great way to get ideas, and Instagram for photography purposes. I think that it’s good to cure your boredom whenever possible by doing some things I’ve listen up above. Try to find inspiration in the little things because before any product was okayed they had to consider packaging; I think that can be useful for a product, graphic, and fashion designers. Lastly, just taking time for yourself can be really beneficial when you’ve been dealing with other people for a long time. Just like how I said at the beginning of this post, I think that it’s important to take some time for self-care.
I would like to end this blog post by once again saying that I appreciate you and everything that you do. You’re doing great sweetie. I know that this is a weird time to be alive and it’s really helped people to come closer together. My heart goes out to you if you are in a country struggling with the coronavirus. My school has been shut down for the next month or so, and I know that we will all get through this together. Until next time, have a colorful day! 🌈