How to live an inspired life - Cultivating an artist’s eye in the everyday.
Here are some thoughts on ways to romanticize everyday life and stay creative.
We’ve fallen for the lie that inspiration comes from Pinterest mood boards, scrolling through reels, or consistently consuming other creative’s work. But that simply inspires you to create something that is a replica of something else, rather than something that is you. I think that a lot of us creative’s have leaned too much on getting inspiration from other’s work, rather from the one true place we get authentic and original inspiration from…
How to live a slower, more romantic life.
First of all, you need to recognize how much noise impacts your creativity. Everyday you are surrounded by so much noise! Billboards and ads. Social media. Always having music and podcasts playing. Leaving your tv on in the background. Loud traffic. A constant influx of text messages and emails. So the first and most important thing for cultivating your artist’s eye is by finding ways to reduce that noise, and carving out times for silence. This is where the magic happens!
Once you have that awareness, you can can then begin to grow the habit of noticing. It can be anything from the texture of your go-to outfit, the interaction between the couple sitting on their porch across the street, or what lies in the yards and gardens of the houses you pass on your walk. Noticing does not happen easily or quickly, but the more you encourage yourself to slow down or pause to do it, the more naturally it will come.
Finding beauty and inspiration in the ordinary.
The creative ideas I get most excited about rarely come from other’s creative endeavors. More often than not, I’m inspired by a person’s personal story, a scene playing out on a city street, a beautiful garden, a moment happening between two lovers, or the particular way something is lit by the sun.
Everyday practices for inspired living:
Reduce the noise in your life, and begin to form the habit of noticing!
If I’m not taking a proper photo with my camera, I like snapping photos with my iPhone, or taking a short video clip, or moments or things that I find beautiful so I can come back to it at another time.
Journaling is so helpful! We have so many good ideas and thoughts in our brain, but it moves so fast that we can easily miss them if we don’t write them down. I’m not talking about sitting down and making a bullet list - instead, spend some time describing something that inspired you and see where it leads.
Start describing things more - not just how they look, but how they feel! This helps to draw you more into the moment.
Make the time to do some things alone. Sometimes you need to experience something yourself, and get alone with your thoughts as you do so! Take yourself on a solo coffee date - people watch and jot down what you see. Go to a park and admire the flowers, or go on a hike in a beautiful location. Get dressed up and go to a nice dinner - bring a notebook and write down what the experience is like. Take yourself on a drive for an hour, or go on a road trip - some of my best ideas have come when I’m spending 3+ hours in a car by myself.
Want to lean even further into the idea of slow and intentional living?
Read my blog post: 16 ways to live the French girl aesthetic. Romanticize life and be in your feminine era!