Finding Inspiration

Community Manager — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 16:15:00 GMT

If you made a New Year's resolution this January, you were probably inspired to change a certain aspect of your life. But does deciding to lose a few pounds because your jeans no longer fit truly count as inspiration? Or is it just commonsense? No matter the motivation behind your resolutions, one thing is clear: you are taking proactive steps to tackle needed changes.

Can one in turn proactively seek inspiration, or is it a lightning strike that comes when you least expect it? Pablo Picasso famously said, "Inspiration exists but it has to find us working."

In search of inspiration of our own, we came across a diverse array of resources. All suggest that inspiration comes when you set yourself up to be an engaged, active, continual learner, open to suggestion and regularly stimulated by the world around you. For more, read the following items on channeling inspiration:

To Achieve Big Goals become a Pattern Thinker: This Fast Company article shows how pattern thinking, the practice of looking at what's working for someone else and applying it to your own situation, can produce inspiration. Bottom line: actively looking for ideas wherever you can produces results.

To Inspire Innovation, Get a Muse: Fashion designers and artists are famously inspired by muses; why should they all have the fun? Take time to cultivate relationships that generate a creative frisson. Most of us have an informal "kitchen cabinet" - that is a person, or group of people, that we turn to again and again for advice. Strive to nurture similar relationships with people that get your creative juices flowing.

Top Artists Reveal How to Find Creative Inspiration: Twenty artists, ranging from playwrights to rock stars to choreographers, reveal how they harness their creative muses. A fascinating glimpse behind the creative curtain.

How Secret Found Inspiration in Perspiration: Think deodorant is uninspiring? Good thing you weren't on the team that reinvented the Secret brand. A great read on how even the most mundane topics can be reimagined with the right worldview.

Where do you find inspiration? Do you think bright ideas and insight come more readily to those who look for them? Share your thoughts here and on the Pendaflex Facebook and Twitter pages.

Beyond Folders : inspiration

Finding Inspiration