…Hey there guys Hope you had an awesome week This is Jason with another edition of the ink. Spired life. A podcast about creativity positivity, mindset, personal growth, and anything else that happens to come along. yeah so hope you had a great week Maybe you found some time to do something creative. And whether it was sketching painting cooking gardening sewing. Dancing sports, whatever creativity is about for you and your life. as most of you guys know for me it's about sketching. I just love drawing. And it's also the creative problem solving, something I use in my architectural practice, something I bring into my classroom when I'm teaching my high school kids as well. so yeah so creativity can have so many different layers…this week I want to answer a question that I seem to get a lot. And it's where do I find inspiration for creating…and that's That is definitely a fair question. sometimes our creative souls or creative Wells are dried up. And we're searching and hunting for ideas. and in sometimes it's it can be challenging right? So here are just a few things that I like to do to help kind of keep my creative inspo. Going keep that Well. filled and that could take ideas out of it. So. I guess my first tip would be…To kind of look at the world's. In a child like sense. Of wonder. You know, sometimes we go through the daily grind and we're just so blinded. By things that are happening around us. You know be curious be wondrous. You know listen, listen to the sounds around you. look at the world differently as well as look for colors. Textures, maybe shadows. Patterns. I'll go out on nature walks. Or even if I'm walking in a store somewhere…Awesome times Set an intention like today. I want to see or look for. Patterns. That are out there. Or maybe today I want to look at how shadows are being cast. So experience experienced the world in a childlike sense of wonder…Means you have to be open-minded right. So it'd be willing to kind of look around it and absorb things like a sponge. and by doing that and developing a practice. You will find that you'll have a. Almost subconscious. Library. That you can tap into. And and, create from. you might even want to journal. I actually a highly. journaling or keeping a sketchbook. And making notes about these different observations. So that would be Probably one tip for me is inspiration…second thing. I'd like to do for inspo. Is surf the web. I mean, There is nothing wrong with a creative looking at the web looking for inspo. Inspiration different ideas. I do that in my architecture practice as well. I'm always kind of looking you know to see. You know what designs are out there. whether it's a skyscraper or an eco design. Or maybe it's a house down the shore. Pinterest…Pinterest is a great great great resource for looking around and getting creative ideas. it's very easy. To get lost down a rabbit hole. When you go on Pinterest I can get lost for hours. But think about Alice in Wonderland. What happened to Alice? When she fell down the rabbit hole. Right. She ended up in Wonderland. And that goes back to our first tip about being wondrous about the world. So search for creative ideas You know it don't I'm not saying to look and copy something but you can be inspired. Maybe maybe I want to sketch a bridge, so maybe they'll Google bridges and they'll find 10 different images. Or five images. And I'll pull things I like from different bridges. Maybe one is a color scheme. Maybe one has to do with the way the The structure the cross bracing is maybe maybe another is the location of the bridge. Or the way the cables are on the bridge. So you could kind of, you know, pick bits and pieces and kind of mesh them together. Into your own creation. So that would be tip number two. Surf the web for inspo and creative ideas. And what would be tip number three. That's a really good question. Tip number three actually comes to me. when I teach. Whether I'm teaching a sketching workshop. Or I'm teaching my cat or architecture. High school students. I'm open. To feedback and listening to my students. And they inspire me just by being themselves. I'm not a teacher who puts stuff out there and says, You must do this my way or it's wrong? No. I'd like to leave things open-ended and see where the kids go where the students go. Where are they What paths they wander down. And just by observing. How they. Solve problems or. What creativity they're bringing. To the game that inspires me and motivates me it kind of fires me up. So you know inspiration is not only about. Seeing. and seeing objects or seeing beautiful things. It's not just about researching or looking up on the web for ideas, but it's also about observing. The way people problem solve. And process information and the results they're doing as well. So yes my students definitely inspire me. So if you don't teach anything, that's okay. Just maybe talk to a friend or share. An idea with a friend. Maybe start a little sketch challenge with a group of friends. And see. What they're doing how are they solving the problem? for example this month…my website, I started October. 2022 So October is a sketching prompt that I give every week. for example this week the prompt is. sketch something Barney. Not the purple dinosaur, but Barney lake a farm or a harvest scene. And in your sketch useful colors. So I give a couple of bullet points. Put it out there. And then I love to see what the inklings out there or students are or people don't even know if they're sketching things I like to see. What they're doing with those bullet points How they're. Solving that problem. And what would their producing. So guys that is my tip Those are three ways that I kind of like to infuse my creative soul. there are more tips I'll be sharing throughout the duration of this podcast. that's it. I'd like to leave you with an action step today So here's your action step. Maybe. take out your journal or your sketchbook. Write down three ideas. Of different ways that you can be. or. You could replenish your creative soul. Just write those down. when we write things down, there's a mind. Brain connection that happens. I think it's awesome I love that I love. Have my subconscious mind kind of remembers things as I sketch or write stuff down…guys if you liked this podcast, I'd love for you to rate it. Subscribe to it on apple podcasts or Spotify. either place I'd love for you to share it as well. This is a work in progress You kind of get to see me stumbling and fumbling along the way with this podcast. Something I'm making something I'm venturing out in and just trying a different format. So please also leave me feedback as well You can do it on. My Facebook group, the expired life. Or, you know sending me a message or you can even email me. Check the show notes out for links and also heavy. special offer. Discount offer from Lacombe…that it will also be in the show notes as well. Walk B is a great great. tool developer you can see. I use the block B journal here all the time. I I absolutely love this journal I'm not just saying this. I carry this everywhere I just did a bread bridge sketch at the dentist office The other day. I have a, a place where I do mind mapping notes as well. And it was also has a planner. So I'm not using a planner quite as much as I want to yet but I'm going to start figuring out how to incorporate it more. All right guys Thank you so much. I really appreciate all…do something positive this week. yeah. Peace. And live. Creatively. Take care. See you soon…