[Create 101] ⚡ How to Find Inspiration, Part II
After last week's deep-dive into what inspiration really is and where it comes from, let’s explore how you can find the inspiration that will start benefiting you every day!
Here are some quick tips that might help you find new inspiration in your creative field:
🌄 Find your own Creative Space
One of the key components of feeling inspired - especially during a pandemic - is your environment. Here’s an example of my creative space and how it keeps me inspired:
Photo by Ainav, CC Writer - Graphic elements by Ryun, CC Designer
🔗 Join Organizations to Meet Other Creatives
At Cornell, there is often pressure to join competitive organizations. But remember to also focus on the things you love. And, you can always stay in touch with the Cornell Creatives community for some extra encouragement and inspiration 😉
We’ve also compiled a list of classes, student organizations, and other creative resources that we’ve found helpful - and that we think might help you find inspiration too!
🏖️ Take a Break from your Creative Journey
It’s time to normalize breaks that are completely guilt-free and as long as they need to be, for you. We asked our followers on Instagram what they do to take a short break and refresh. Here’s a few insights from the Cornell community on how to reset by taking a break:
“Explore nature. Get ideas from your surroundings!”
“Stretch, breath, take a quick walk around the house, and have a snack!”
“Connect with yourself by journaling.”
I also spoke to Sharon Li, Co-Brand Lead of Cornell Creatives. She spoke about what she does to take a break, and why it’s important to her:
“I take a break from my creative work by doing other types of work that aren’t creative, like planning logistical things or organizing my schedule. I also take breaks from general work by taking walks outside or listening to music. I think it’s important to take a break from creative work because it’s such a personal thing: you can get too caught up in perfecting the details of a particular work, and may even lose sight of the bigger picture of why you’re creating it in the first place.”
👏 Draw Inspiration from Others
Picasso once said that “good artists copy, great artists steal.”
As I was thinking about this quote, I stumbled across Austin Kleon, a New York Times best-selling author known for his book Steal Like An Artist, an interactive book that explains that the artist is meant to collect ideas.
Kleon was inspired to write this book because - ironically - he was uninspired. He was a writer, and seemed to be experiencing a bad case of writer's block. That is until he picked up a newspaper and a sharpie, and created newspaper blackout poems that spread all over the internet.
He used other people’s work to create his own - and in a way, we all have to find our own way of doing just that.
Ainav
CC Writer
Ainav is a sophomore majoring in Government in Arts & Sciences. She’s a writer for CC, but also loves anything art related, from painting to digital illustration!
Did this blog post supercharge your creativity? ⚡
We hope so. And we can’t wait to see what magic you make next. ✨
Take this email as the reason you’ve been searching for to dive into your next creative endeavor, and know that you’ve got a creative community backing you at every step of the way. 🙌