Inspiration is vital to maintaining any sort of creative flow.   It is also what keeps life interesting.  It had been suggested to me that people might be interested in where and how I get inspired, all the little (sometimes big) things that come into my life and provide some inspiration.  It’s not always immediately evident where that inspiration may or may not lead but it’s all fuel for the creative process.

I was thinking that, of course, everyone knows what inspiration is. However, I’ve long been a gatherer of information (in a previous job my nickname was Research Queen) so I thought it would be interesting to see exactly what the definition of inspiration is.  According to Dictionary.com, inspiration is:

1.        stimulation or arousal of the mind, feelings, etc, to special or unusual activity or creativity

2.        the state or quality of being so stimulated or aroused

3.        someone or something that causes this state

4.        an idea or action resulting from such a state

5.        the act or process of inhaling; breathing in

All 5 of these are part of the ongoing garnering of creative inspiration, even the last.  Often, something that inspires me to a new idea does literally feel like breathing in.

As I was thinking about this post, knowing that I wanted it to be an ongoing series I was searching for an appropriate title.  In a quick break (otherwise known as procrastination) I decided to check out Facebook for a few minutes.  On the Superhero You FB page was this question, “What inspired you today?”    That’s a perfect title, I thought, not just what’s inspiring me but a conversation about where inspiration comes from and all the different forms it may take.

So that’s the foundation of what I hope will be an ongoing conversation about what inspiration looked like and where it came from, at least for today.  Tomorrow it may be something else.

The images that follow are from some time that served as inspiration for me a couple of weeks ago.  One thing I know that I need to do to stay inspired is to be with other creative souls no matter what their art form may be.  A friend of mine is a fiber artist as well as a most creative and generous soul. She invited me to spend an afternoon in her studio playing with fibers and/or just observing.  Being in the presence of other creative minds as well as being surrounded by the “stuff” of her art always opens up the creative pathways.  These are just a hint of the explosion of color and texture and creative energy that I experienced that afternoon.

So, what inspired you today?

 

*Check out the Superhero You website too! It says that it is “a community dedicated to helping you unleash your superpower.”