Media and the way we consume it has changed in the past five years. Whereas I use to sit in front of the television or open a newspaper and be immersed in hundreds of different topics I am now super selective about what I read and see. In fact, I gave up television all together three years ago and with the exception of the odd television series (Downton Abbey, Game of Thrones) rarely watch anything. Likewise I never purchase a whole newspaper anymore. Instead I pick and choose the articles I want to read online. Of course, the majority of my time is spent on social media sites – facebook, twitter, pinterest and instagram and on design blogs and magazines.
I often feel like I have fallen down a rabbit hole that is full of stunning interiors, DIY projects and beautifully curated photo shoots and not much else. The muchness is sometimes overwhelming. I’m so consumed by the details that I’m failing to see the big picture. My goal this month is to find ways to stay inspired that go beyond browsing pinterest, reading blogs and flipping through design magazines. Don’t get me wrong I love doing these things but I need to find some other ways to get inspired so that I get even more from my regular diet of design reading and browsing.
Leo Babauta of the awe-inspiring blog Zen Habits wrote a post that outlines seven different ways to stay inspired. They are:
- Work with inspired people – one of the best ways to stay inspired is to work with creative, energetic, positive people.
- Read daily – varied things, from blogs to magazines to books of all kinds.
- Get outside – nature is one of the biggest inspirations, and you’ll miss it if you’re inside all day.
- Talk with new people – they’ll always expose you to new and interesting things, if you’re open to it.
- Break out of your routine – see things from a different perspective. Take a new route home. Go to a new restaurant. Visit someplace new in your area.
- Find time for silence – it’s more inspiring than you might think. Unfortunately, not enough of us do it.
- Exercise – or at least get moving. It helps the blood to circulate, and gets ideas moving around.
My goal for the month of May is to work through these seven suggestions. Some like working with inspired people will be easy and others like finding time for silence and exercise won’t be!
I’ll be documenting the process on my twitter and instagram accounts with the hashtag – #mayinspire. I hope you will follow and even participate. Just tag your own photos or tweets with the same hashtag. Let’s see what we can find to fuel our creative fires.
Image credits: Dietlind Wolf
