5 ways to rediscover your muse
Posted on July 14, 2008, by dazzer67, under creativity basics, inspiration, quick tips.
I must admit that I have been struggling recently in the creative arena, and the posts here have been few and far between because of that… well okay I have also been extremely busy with the day job, but that is no excuse. Still it got me thinking about what you can do when the ‘muse’ has gone away, when the creative ideas just don’t seem to flow. (You’ll find this is a recurring theme here and I’ll return to it quite often).
So here are five quick ways to rediscover your muse if she’s gone away:
- Open your eyes - It is very easy to crawl into our own creative ghetto and just keep putting out. But that eventually leads to creative burnout. Find others who use a similar creative genre and look at what they are doing, immerse yourself in their creativity for a while.
- See the ‘real’ world - Nature is organic and as such can provide us with limitless inspiration. It isn’t bound by our human ideas and so reaches beyond what we can imagine. Tap into that creativity by taking a look at what is beyond the concrete. It also gives you any excuse to get out of the studio!
- Close your eyes - Sometimes you simply need to down tools for a while. Simply close your eyes and get away from the paper, paint, materials or music, and relax. It is surprising how often the muse will return when you stop looking.
- Make a list - The brain fills up quite quickly with a lot of junk to distracts us. One of the best tried and tested methods of helping the poor brain during these times is making lists. Even if you don’t do anything with them, just getting it out of your head helps a lot, and gives space for the muse to move back in.
- Fall in love - Find your soul mate, spark up the relationship and voila. Okay, that is easier said than done, but what you are looking for here are strong emotions. Emotional energy has a big impact on creativity, so if your creative levels are down, perhaps you need to hold an emotional audit.
I’d love to hear any other ideas you may have to woo the muse back into your life, so please add them to the comments.
