Inspiration is the fuel that drives creativity. When I need to take a break because I am experiencing a creative block or feel utterly restless, I go on a hike. I can almost guarantee that I will return energized, motivated, inspired, and ready to create. But there can be a slim chance that it doesn’t work and I need to find other ways to fuel that creative spark.

1. Surround Yourself with Inspiration

• Create a creative space: Make your workspace a place that inspires you. In my studio, I have all the things I love, music, plans, art from other people, and other knick-knacks that bring me joy.
• Fill your environment with art: Surround yourself with pieces that move you.
• Listen to inspiring music: Music can be a powerful source of inspiration. This is good to just get up and dance for a moment or five.
• Spend time in nature: The beauty of the natural world can be incredibly inspiring. As I said, hiking is my go-to way to find inspiration, sometimes it’s a weekend camping.

2. Seek Out New Experiences

• Travel: Exploring new places can broaden your horizons and spark new ideas. I can’t recommend this enough. We go camping as many times as we can a year just to get away. Sometimes we just go on road trips without a destination and explore as if we’ve not seen the interstate ever before.
• Try new things: Step outside of your comfort zone and try something new. The other day I tried the trending cucumber recipe with smoked salmon. I love salmon. I don’t love smoked salmon. Same concept with your art, try something you haven’t done before. Take a class or something that interests you.
• Meet new people: Connecting with others can inspire you in unexpected ways. For introverts, this can be tough but this is where signing up for a workshop can be helpful.

3. Read, Watch, and Listen

• Consume creative content: Immerse yourself in books, movies, and music that inspire you. Fun fact, I found paranormal shifter romance to do the trick for me more often than not. Be it in audiobook form or written form.
• Learn from others: Study the work of artists you admire.
• Stay curious: Keep your mind open to new ideas and perspectives. I like to think of this as “come at it as if you were little and explore the world like you haven’t seen it before.

4. Set Goals and Celebrate Your Achievements

• Give yourself something to strive for: Having goals can motivate you to keep creating. Creating for creating sake, can be useful and fun. However, I found that having goals can be what keeps you going when things feel a bit wonky like sales are slow. Goals help you to keep going.
• Reward yourself for your accomplishments: Celebrate your successes, no matter how small. This isn’t done enough. I am the first one to admit that I don’t do this enough for myself but seriously, it’s really good for you to do.

You’re the one that is running this show of your creative live.