I heard today that “inspiration is for amateurs.” Have you ever heard someone say that they were waiting for inspiration before they started creating something? Yeah, Amateurs. Inspiration can help you to create, but if you sit around waiting for it, it might not ever come.
Creativity takes work. Creativity is a process. If you want to create, you need to figure out your process. Your process is different than mine, but keep these things in mind.
You need to make space to receive from whatever gives you inspiration. Whatever you do to receive – go on a drive, sit still, eat, read, just be quiet – whatever. If you’re going to create, make space to receive inspiriation.
Then, make more space to create. The creativity comes when you take the time to make space.
I told you it takes work. So go create and then share it with me. I’d love to see your creation and creativity.
identitySPECIALIST 
Recently I have been thinking a lot about this. I am tremendously inspired by the content of certain magazines – Nat Geo, Vanity Fair, Vogue, Traveller – to name a few. Not every article inspires me, neither every picture but some just take my breath away, and encourage me to create, they teach me things, and I want to go further, deeper, into my own process of creativity. However, buying magazines – several a month – for years runs into a few problems. One – you end up with a lot of magazines. Two – how to store them. Three – how to find the key bits that inspire.
Recently to save me from the magazine monster, to to try to answer the three problems. I have begun the long process of clipping. I have made piles – photography, food, writing, inspiration, characters, thoughts, interiors – and I am busily going through each magazine, taking the bits I need, discarding the other bits, and then filing, my clippings.
It is taking me rather longer than I had hoped, but slowly I will get there, and inthe process I feel inspired, and free, because I am creating space, both mentally and physically. No longer do I need to search in vain through endless piles of paper, to find that one article. Eventually they will all be filed. It is a lot of work – you are right creativity is work, as is keeping fresh, keeping inspiration, and working. Its all about work, but we were made to work, and it is so amazing when the work is something you adore.
Another superb post Lem.
I really like your perspective on how to create mental and physical space. I was just talking about the concept in generalities. I love the specifics that you bring into it. We are definitely connected to the space we live in – oooh – that sounds like a great blog post. I think I’ve written about that before. Private spaces.
It really takes a lot of work to be creative. When we can create the space to make stuff, it helps to make us.
Thanks for reading Nics.