GENERATING INSPIRATION
big ideas in the coat room
One of my best ideas and ongoing creative projects came out of a conversation next to a coat room.
But really, how do you generate and harness inspiration?
Picasso’s answer was this, “Inspiration exists, but it has to find you working.”
After working as a creative for over 20 years, and working with 100s of creatives, trust me there’s something to that. You want ideas, just start writing/drawing/creating.
But what about creative block? How do you gather inspiration to act when you’re feeling stuck?
In my experience, you do it with others, with openness, and with curiosity.
Let’s go back to the coat room, then I’ll share an exercise to try it out on your own.
BUT REAL QUICK I also want any creatives reading this to know we have 24 hours left on our Early Bird registration for the Unleash Creativity Club!
A friend recently told me, "All transformation is collaborative."
I couldn't agree more. It's easier to see your blind spots in a mirror. Other people can serve as that mirror when they do in a safe and judgment-free environment.
Are you seeking
A creative community
Tools to support you in getting past tough moments
A way to see new opportunities and ways to get there
More confidence, courage, clarity
Or maybe just a less wheel-spinny feeling
I know a place :)
In this place I've seen members thrive in ways they couldn't imagine. And that's the point. We do coaching work and creative work to discover and move past obstacles, seeing possibilities we hadn't before.
We work slowly and methodically over 21 days (about 10-15 minutes a day) and beyond to shine a light on our fears and throw a bunch of confidence and courage at it. Fear hates that!
BONUS TIME!
And I am offering TEN Bonus spots this week.
If you sign up for the upcoming 21 Day Essentials course and membership community, I'll DM you a private link for a call with me where you will get CLEAR on your goals over the next 3 months and FOCUSED on how you will get there.
This is limited to the first ten sign ups only!
It’s 2014, September. Exactly ten years ago and I had no idea I was about to launch on a now 10 year journey.
Scene: I’m an illustrator talking to another illustrator at an event at the Society of Illustrators in NYC (fantastic place, worth a visit!). We were kibbitzing about what we were doing, what more we wanted to do, and of course started talking about ways we could do more and make more money with our art.
Friend: You know, you’re a tech guy, you should do one of those daily blogs. Y’know, paint something and put it up on ebay every morning.
Me: Yeah, I’ve seen those blogs. You could make a few hundred bucks to start your day. But I don’t think I want to actually DO that every day, while the idea is nice.
Friend: …
Me: Like, I don’t think _I_ have enough ideas to bang something out every single day. I also have a kid and one on the way and I’d get off track eventually.
Ok, can you hear my inner critic trying to get loud?
The obstacles I’m throwing up in my way.
My fear of creative block?
When I hear myself saying why I can’t, that’s a cue to ask “how could it be done?”
So what if I removed the block: me.
The idea WAS good and I had just done a big project where I organized 28 illustrators to create a deck of cards that got mentioned in Business Insider and the Economist.
What if I created that site, and used the same organizing principle of community?
I knew myself and I probably wasn’t going to do a still life every morning, but I knew I could build a website and ask people to join.
I got my coat and took the subway home.
That night, with a glass or two of wine in me, I built the website which became the online gallery Every Day Original. It took a few months to get everyone on board, and I did build the website twice.
And now? We are now about to celebrate our 10th year, with 100s of artists showing, 1000s of pieces sold, and have crossed the $1 million mark in sales on original art pieces (no AI, thank you) that cost on average less than $500.
That was a mouthful.
Point is I could have shut down the idea, and kind of started to. But I was also curious, and open, what MIGHT a solution be and how COULD I do it?
This was a click moment.
Frans Johansson in his book “Click Moments” describes this phenomenon as a way of being open to almost anything as a potential opportunity. Sometimes it means using skills you don’t put as much value on.
For example, there’s another web designer/illustrator in our Unleash Creativity Club who, like me in 2014, was kind of hiding that side of herself because she thought to be seen she had to make it only as an artist. In the time we worked together she came to embrace that in-fact creative pursuit because the truth is she really enjoyed it. No coincidence she also now manages tech and shows in our online gallery, win win!
The work of hiding ourselves is often more cumbersome than just embracing the things that bring us joy.
TRY THIS EXERCISE TO GENERATE CURIOSITY
Grab a piece of paper and pen/pencil. Or do the exercise out loud.
This exercise is a practice in dissociation. Imagining is hard when you have a way of doing things that you feel sure you can’t do. Imagining is easier when you imagine someone else doing it.
Write down 5 things you would like to do but haven’t started.
Write down 3 people who you admire, or have done those things.
For each person, write down 3 ways that person MIGHT start the project you’re holding back on.
When you imagine what they might do, you might even imagine asking them. Imagine what they would say, even how they would say it, and write that!
They don’t have the same blocks as you.
They might seem to have more confidence or courage.
They might have bolder ideas.
Ask them (in your head or… you cooooould even ask them) and write it down.
Now, when you have these new ideas, which COULD you do?
Circle that!
OUTCOMES
Now you should have a list of ideas, no matter how outlandish.
OR maybe there’s ideas there you’d like to act on.
Or, get curious, are there ideas that these ideas spark?
When people do this they often feel a sense of connection to creative purpose.
COULD THIS BE EVEN EASIER?
YEP.
Instead of imagining a group of people with great ideas, what if you had these conversations for real?
Inspiration, a feeling of belonging, new ideas and new actions, these are things we create together in the Unleash Creativity Club.
We are a committed, confidential, and courageous group, dedicated to our artistic and personal growth.
Members have said that they move from a space of anxiety and worry to clarity, focus, and motivation. They've started projects, made some projects bigger, reinvented key relationships, and found a sense of belonging.
If you are one of the first ten to join in the next 24 hours, I’ll send you a private link for a 1:1 session to get clear on your goals and how to get the absolute most from the group.
As a creative and a coach, it brings me incredible joy to watch our community grow and create so much together.
Click the button below to learn more and join us.
PS - The elephant in the room
Let me address the elephant, is this snake oil?
There's hundreds of coaches out there promising 10x this, 5 “easy” ways to guaranteed that.
I'm not going to promise you anything that easy.
Nothing worthwhile was ever easy and "overnight success" was always years in the making.
Here's what I CAN tell you for sure.
I can tell you that our members get results, like clarity and fulfillment.
I can tell you that everyone who has joined has said that this is truly a different kind of community than anything they've seen on the internet. Their words.
I can tell you I have decades of art world experience, more than a decade of mentoring artists, and multiple difficult-to-achieve certifications with internationally recognized organizations as a coach.
I can tell you that we really care about our community members.
That you aren't just a number.
We actually know and support each other.
If you have any other concerns or doubts, send a message, I'm happy to answer anything.