5 Activities to Inspire Creativity.

Having creativity is such an important thing to your person and soul. There isn't anything better than feeling that surge of magic when you find that special something that inspires you. I get stuck every now and then and what helps is always being on the look out for inspiration and to have a few activities to help those creative juices flow.  Here are some of my favorite go-to challenges or activities that get me unstuck from a rut.  

1.  Go to the art museum and go straight to the current exhibition.  The current exhibition usually changes seasonally. The art museum usually has a few different sections that they rotate the art to make it feel fresh but there are some that are permanent display that are just plan boring. skip it and go right up to that amazing current exhibition and be in the world of the artist.  Walk slowly and let your brain enjoy what your looking at and ask yourself at the end how did they make that? Before you leave visit the museum gift shop and buy yourself a cheap postcard from the exhibit to always remind you of how awesome it was.

2.  Take 5 dollars and only 5 dollars and go to your local thrift store. Your job is to find an object that inspires you and it's ok if it's broken or missing something or dirty and basically the only rule is that it needs to be under 5 bucks. Once you buy the item, take a piece of paper and fold it in fourths.  Unfold the paper and write in each corner 1,2,3, and 4 (1 being in the upper left hand corner, 2 being in the upper right, 3 in lower left, and 4 in the lower right) Refold the paper leaving the corner 1 showing and draw that corner of your object, not the whole object just that corner.  Refold the  paper showing only 2, and draw that corner and keep going until your drawing is complete. Unfold paper and see what you made! yay!

3.  Wear comfortable shoes and make sure your camera phone has 100% juice. Go into your local city or town- somewhere busy.  Look for something that starts with the letter A and take a photo. Then go onto the next letter and the next.  You can not go out of order and it has to be alphabetical.  Now you can look back and see what happened.

4.  Make yourself a peanut butter and jelly sammich. Now if you don't like the PBJs that's ok too, thats not the point. Take a piece of paper or sketch paper and write or draw 20 different  variations of the PBJ- they can be as crazy as you want. and just for the record I like my PBJ with crunchy potato chips.

5.  Take out a couple of old magazines and newspapers.  Take a blank piece of paper and start cutting out only words that you are attracted to. Now stack the words on top each other like a list. On your blank piece of paper draw out each word and I am saying draw not write.  Writing is something you do everyday this is something that should be extra- ordinary. Now at the end- what did your subconscious say?

Happy Creating.

35 comments

mybeardedpigeon@gmail.com said...

Love it!

trishie said...

Such fun activities! I do #1 regularly with a good friend of mine.

rooth said...

Okay, I kind of love all of these, especially the thrift store and pbj ones - brilliant Erika!

Unknown said...

This is an unbelievably sweet post. I love the alphabet idea so much!! xoxo

birdie to be said...

Love this! Getting back into do doing all the things we did before pinterest! Love the pb&j one! :)

Unknown said...

I love going to art museums but the thrift shop idea is new to me. I think it will beea great source of inspiration.

Erin said...

I already do #s 1 (doing that today, actually!) and 3 on the regular, but I'm going to have to give #5 a whirl too! I'm very word-obsessed and get stuck on certain words for a while (recently it was 'ineluctable' and
'oily.' So good). Thank you for these tips, Erika!! xo

Marlene @ Jade and Fern said...

These are all such great ideas! Getting the juices flowing is so important. Something I do is keep a notebook with me at all times so I can write down ideas or things I saw that inspired me. Very basic, but it helps!

Marlene @ Jade and Fern said...

These are all such great ideas! Getting the juices flowing is so important. Something I do is keep a notebook with me at all times so I can write down ideas or things I saw that inspired me. Very basic, but it helps!

Vanessa said...

A creative writing teacher made us write how to make a pb&j without using "spread" and it was glorious. We need limitations to be creative or we get overwhelmed by the possibilities...like I am right now with work, augh. I looove going out and exploring and taking photos for inspiration, one of my favorite ways to inspire creativity.

Unknown said...

These are great ideas! Next time I have 'writer's block' I'm going to try some of these out.

http://howtomakehome.blogspot.com

Rach said...

Project #2 sounds so cool! I'm not very artistically talented when it comes to drawing, but I still think it would be fun to do! And I've always wanted to do an alphabet walk (#3), but just haven't yet!

J. MacIsaac Studios said...

What fun! #3 would be so much fun to do with kids too.

Christine D. | The Plumed Nest said...

wow! these are just absolutely fantastic. i have been working on my own little list, but so far these are so much better than mine! i love them all. xo

Lauren said...

Love all these ideas the first and last ones are my favorite!

Lauren,
http://www.atouchofsoutherngrace.com/

Tales of Whimsy said...

FUN! I love to do that with my camera phone. :D

I LOVE your $5. challenge!

Anonymous said...

:D Love it!

sarah c said...

These are really great ideas. Thanks for sharing, and thanks for visiting my blog. Really appreciate it :)

thehonorableMissDecaf said...

Great ideas. I have been feeling a little dry in the creative area lately. I love the suggestion about the thrift stores! :D

love,
a

www.missdecaf.blogspot.com

Lila Smyth said...

Love this! Thank you for sharing. It is always good to have a practice to kick-start your imagination!

Lauren said...

Great ideas for getting the creative juices flowing. I also like to get out and watch people, especially at places like the Saturday Market. Portland has the most eclectic and diverse people, right? I like looking at outfits and personal style.

Allison said...

This is so fun! I want to do them all...especially the PB&J one. You are genius. :)

17 Perth said...

All great suggestions!! Number 3 is my favorite and one I use often, but I love number 5 also!

Teffy @ Sprinkle of Green said...

Haha such great ones!
I've never had chips with my peanut butter... I do add crunchy crisps with all my other sandwiches though! One sandwich I'd make is pear and almond butter. Yum!

{Teffy's Perks} X

Krugthethinker said...

All five of these are so awesome! Definitely bookmarking this!

Eva said...

I like so much your activities, specially go to the museum. When I was in Madrid I liked go to the Prado. Sometimes I walking Inside 30 minutes and other 2 hours...It was so good for inspiration!!I love 3 as well!

Traci said...

I love all of these ideas, but especially #5! I'd love to do it with my niece...or on my own.

Jillian said...

Such awesome ideas :) It really did get me feeling inspired already!! New follower.

vwalker said...

Great ideas! Love that you say "sammich" too! haha

Lauren said...

These are great! Awesome list!

Anne Hill said...

awesome ideas! thanks!

Anne Hill said...

awesome ideas! I would have never thought of #2! totally going to try it out

Diana said...

Love this list! Definitely going to try out the photography idea! Plus I've been meaning to check out the local art museum...must make this happen! :)

Unknown said...

Gah yes! These are great suggestions! Creativity is all that is keeping me sane these days (or maybe it's not doing that at all and i just haven't noticed tehe).

<3becky
www.loosefromthezoo.com

Unknown said...

This is awesome.

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