Nurturing the Idea Machine

Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people.

Eleanor Roosevelt

Acquaintance of Kelp Forests  Kelp, Driftwood, Vintage Silk & Lace 56 x 41 x 41 by Christina Chalmers

where I discovered this

What helps me stay on the creative track...

1- Exercise
A lot of my best ideas come in the last mile of a run. Endorphins put their spin on my thoughts, and even if they sometimes don't sound as exciting to me once the euphoria has worn off, I'm always thankful that I wrote them down while they were fresh.

2- Respecting the mind/body connection
Another sure fire method to stoke the creative fire is to practice meditation or yoga. The key to this is to be consistent, people!

3- Hanging out in the studio
This is as calming as meditation. It's productive too, because you often end up organizing and cleaning, which in turn frees you up for the next big project.

4- Travel, even if it's just to the closest big city or new neighborhood
New sights, sounds and smells, meeting new people, eating different food and seeing everyone else's creativity can jumpstart you out of your creative rut.

5- Creating and reinforcing new habits to best serve my current needs
I was having a hard time carving out a full hour in the mornings for writing and decided to write just a few minutes, with no pressure to reach a number goal, every morning before work. When I saw this 250 word challenge, I realized that I had been consistently hitting 250 and that it's a reasonable goal for me. Setting the bar low takes the pressure off, and I find myself wanting to write more.

What tricks have you found over time to help you in your creative practice?  
 

To NaNoWriMo or not?

Organizing October is almost over, and I feel much better since the "purge". I was starting to question the wisdom of making assemblage art, with the huge selection of spare parts we artists insist on having around. It's always a conflict, because I'm a minimalist at heart, or I just want to be.

Sometimes it seems like organizing is its very own art form. In any case it's satisfying. Is that the Virgo in me?

I'm toying with the idea of signing up for NaNoWriMo. Have any of you done it before? You have to write a 50,000 word novel start to finish in the month of November. That would be great, but I have gotten about 20,000 words into my first novel --!!!--started in late summer and I'm afraid of diverting my word flow, haha. Sort of like how I decided not to worry about learning Spanish when I was in Costa Rica a long time ago because I hadn't yet acquired  a solid base in French, which I was actively speaking at the time (still am). But it sure would come in handy to be fluent in Spanish, although now I'd prefer Italian and the Spanish would make that a cinch. All I'm trying to say is that there aren't enough hours in the day! So do I go for NNWM?

The photos are from our trip to Chicago in September. My first time there and I was astonished at the design and architectural beauty--love, love, love.