Letters of Inspiration: II

August 15, 2017

Hi Melissa,
See, now that’s inspiring. Instead of ‘just’ an interview, letting people in on (excerpts of) our personal emails. Brilliant. I actually think back-and-forth emailing is the best thing about working with other creatives and it’s a shame it never sees the light of day (i.e. gets shared on blog or social media). People are increasingly interested in ‘behind the scenes’ and ‘keeping it real’ stuff as a result of what you mentioned about everyone on social media ‘seemingly living a life of unconstrained creativity.’

As a creative it can certainly be something to strive for but in reality takes a loooong time and a lot of hard work before it can even be considered a feasible option (bills to pay, etc.).

Most people have to just get ‘get on with life’ on a daily basis. Makes sense that ‘Mindfulness’ and ‘simplifying your life’ (Marie Kondo-ing is now a verb, right?) is getting a big audience these days. It’s something you can actually get control over today. Yes, guilty as well. Not so much of the Mindfulness thing but the Kondo-ing, ohhh. Moving house didn’t help. And it’s so hard to stop! At one point my husband asked if I was planning on getting rid of him too. Didn’t happen by the way.

Also, isn’t creativity something that’s always within ourselves (however dormant) and if you have all the freedom in the world wouldn’t that just be too ‘meh’? I mean, it does sound like a long holiday and I’m definitely not writing it off 😉 but as you said ‘inspiration is tied to our emotional state’ and I agree that the best works come from sadness and desperation, or somewhere close to it. (Oh yes, and love. Bleh. Haha.) But that may just be my preference for sad songs talking.

Oh a little note to self: Stop scrolling through my social feeds so much and start reading more (books) again. We can add notes to self, right?

August 15, 2017

I agree. I think creativity happens regardless of our external situation, it’s always within ourselves for lack of a less cheesy phrase. If you’re a) in an office an also in a terrible mood, feeling un-creative, then you won’t create BUT if you’re b) in that very same office and decide as you search the grayish walls and take in the faint scent of mildew, “Hey, I’m going to dig deep and inspire myself to create right NOW” then you can and you will. (Or at least if creativity isn’t reliant on external factors.)
I read somewhere (maybe Murakami?) that there’s really no such thing as writer’s block but the very concept itself is some excuse to feel uninspired. Sit yourself in a room, shut off your phone, pull up a blank document and spend the next 90 minutes writing/creating/painting … whatever. Will it be your best work? Eh, probably not. But it’ll be work you accomplished when you thought you couldn’t.
Maybe that gets back to the Kondo-ing idea you were talking about. It’s not only about simplifying the physical things in your life but also simplifying your emotional state to understand that inspiration is there, however dormant, and you just have to figure out how to get it onto the page, free your brain from the clutter and do something. Simplify your life, simplify your mind?