Creative Kickstart
Day 22 of 31: 200 Words-A-Day Challenge
Welcome, first-timers and returners, to the 200-word challenge, which is intended to help each of us (re)cultivate a writing habit, open our creativity, foster engagement and personal growth, and receive inspiration from what’s shared in this supportive community.
My 200+ word micro-essay is below, followed with a prompt for you… if you need it; feel free to write about something else if you like. Just Write.
Creative Kickstart
I used to believe whenever I was at a loss for ideas and empty of inspiration that it was an internal issue, some sort of shortcoming on my part that I needed to fix. But I’ve discovered that it’s often a change on the outside that can free up the flow of my words. A shift in my surroundings can (re)spark my creativity.
For me, the ideal would involve travel, going to some exotic or new-to-me locale, someplace to experience new cultures, new sights and sounds, new foods. I assure you my creative well would be refilled under those idyllic circumstances.
But, honestly, to reignite my creative spark, such significant (and aspirational, impractical, economically unfeasible, yada, yada) changes in surroundings are unnecessary.
Simple and even subtle changes can be creative catalysts. Taking my notebook outside on my porch or on my greenway walk lets me see things with fresh eyes. Moving my desk or shifting myself from one room into another can clear the cobwebs in my brain. Leaving the house to write in a coffee shop or a library is a welcome break from the stagnancy bred by familiarity.
Every Wednesday, I purposefully break my routine and escape the familiar by going to a coworking space. My day there begins with an exchange of insights and encouragement with another writer,
. So this change of venue provides an intellectual boost in addition to new physical surroundings shared with others. This is a major change from the rest of my week when I work solo, both physically and in my head, and it’s had a significant positive impact on my overall creativity.“A change of scenery will do you good” – It’s cliché, but, hey, it’s working for me.
Your Prompt / Day 22 of 31
Do you have a plan for what to do when you feel uninspired or not creative? Is there something you’ve considered trying to kickstart your creativity, but simply haven’t? Why not? Could you do that thing this week? Let me know how it goes.