LIFEWTR//Finding New Inspiration Everywhere
This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #ThirstInspiration #CollectiveBias
Do you find the place that you live in boring and uninspiring?
Do you wish you lived somewhere else?
Do you constantly dream of other locations?
When you go on holiday, do you dread coming back home?
Lately, my answer to all of these questions has been yes. My move to Barcelona has been delayed due to paperwork and it's incredibly frustrating. We were originally supposed to be gone already so you can imagine how this must feel. It's been incredibly difficult on me and I was becoming so negative. I have felt stuck and my creative juices were put on pause. The writer's block syndrome sets in, the creative barrier goes up, and the mind goes completely blank. Has this happened to you? Where you're sitting waiting for that next genius moment to spring forth and it's just...not...coming? ...Join the club.
You've officially been initiated into the Creative Pause Movement----a movement I have gotten way too familiar with. Being a full time writer behind a lifestyle blog with a lack of inspiration and creativity is not really the best situation. I have been home in one location now for five months and the wanderlust was and is sinking in BIG time.
My industry is also highly competitive and it's hard to not play the comparison game in blogger world. The pressure is real some days. I am going to be sharing some of my secrets to help you get your creative juices flowing at the end of the post. I feel like we can all use some little inspiration finding pick-me-ups.
So how do I get more inspired?!
Well, I have been switching things up here in my current hometown letting everything around me influence my creativity, and I partnered with LIFEWTR from my local 7-Eleven to add a few inspiration drops to everything that I find and do. They make it so easy to channel the perfect fusion of creativity and hydration to make it through the week. Those are definitely two essentials needed in my daily routine. I am such a sucker for design and branding and this company is just so easy on the eyes.
Each bottle showcases vibrant art from artists all around the world. I love the first batch of artists too who have really brought their signature visual style to LIFEWTR. I look so culturally connected and in the know carrying it with me. I love how convenient 7-Eleven makes the shopping experience too. I can pretty much grab my LIFEWTR anytime of the day as most locations are open 24 hours.
Every single drop is purified, and pH balanced with electrolytes for taste refreshing my mind and quenching my curiosity. It tastes pure and crisp.It has become my go-to accessory, especially with the amazing convenient sports cap. (Such a perk.)
So I am falling back in love with my current hometown by switching things up. I have changed my running route and have discovered some of the most amazing little corners I never knew existed. (I have lived in TUL for almost 8 years now and have never seen these crazy cool areas until recently in the photos below) I have really been opting outside lots with the unseasonably warm temps and exploring my city on foot. I have been attending events that I normally otherwise wouldn't.
I really enjoy finding inspiration everywhere I look. And I have been really concentrating on getting " dressed again" during the days, even when I am just running errands. It becomes so easy to just stay in your lounge work out attire when you work from home. It feels good to actually put makeup on and fix my hair even if I never leave the house. The boyfriend definitely appreciates it. My LIFEWTR has just become a part of my everyday routine by coming along with me on all of my adventures. Seriously----every single one. So happy to have chatted with friends and vowed to make the most of my time here where I live. Life is short, you know? No time to be miserable.
So here are my top 5 ways I get my creative juices flowing, as promised....(I got these from Sean Kim, one of my fave entrepreneurs.)
Stop, Drop, and Roll: No, there’s no fire. Except for the one we’re burning inside our head. You just have to stop what you are doing, drop that pen, and roll out of the space you are in. Most of us are sitting down, staring at a screen for eight hours a day. Changing the current state of our environment and breaking the routine is the quickest and most effective way to begin activating new parts of your brain. I promise it's okay to take this needed break and just come back to it.
Get Moving: Exercise is soooo good for us lovelies. It allows our conscious minds to access fresh ideas that are buried in our subconscious. Go for a stroll, run, or even get into that yoga studio. Do whatever it takes to keep your mind off the task at hand. I personally love taking my dogs for a hike. And we all love our LIFEWTR joining us.
Write it Down: I was not gifted with a photogenic memory. Since creativity is about linking the pieces of knowledge we obtain, keeping track of the information in our brain should be the first step. Keeping track of our thoughts can help us develop our ideas further, by allowing us to return to it at a later time and build on top of it. Remember, it take dozens of revisions to form a good idea, and hundreds of revisions to create a brilliant idea. Writing is the best tool to achieve this, and best of all, it helps remove the clutter inside your mind, opening up room for new, creative ideas.
Put Yourself in Someone Else's Box: Good artists copy, great artists steal...that's what Pablo Picasso said anyway. Often, the creative blocks we face are nothing but constraints set by our previous experiences, whether it’s an old memory, a particular smell; it could be anything. By removing ourselves from our work and observing it from the lens of someone else, we gain a different perspective we’ve never had before.Take an existing project that you’re working on, and try to see it from the perspective of someone you admire in your field. Go even beyond that and put yourself in the mind of a company or brand that you deeply respect. How would it look, feel, and taste if they were to create it?
Sleep..Sleep. Sleep and More Sleep: Making sure your brain and body gets the rest it needs is crucial for creative intelligence. Making the connection between pieces of information that our daytime rational minds see as separate seems to be easiest when we’re drifting in the dreamworld. This means that creativity doesn’t spur from entering a new dimension of thoughts or stepping out of any boxes; it’s from connecting the knowledge we already have.
Wishing you all the best on your personal quests to find inspiration everywhere. I am so eager to hear some of your takeaways from the post below in the comments. And let me know what LIFEWTR art label you are going to grab at 7-Eleven?! They are all three so amazing, it's going to be a hard choice! Tag me in your pics.
XO
SAM