The more relaxed and centred we are, the easier it is to create.
Whether you want to get out of your head and back to the things that stir your soul, or you're just trying to find ways to live a more creative life, these tips will help you harness your creative energy and bring you back to center.
Here are seven ways to fill up your creative cup.
1. Spend time outdoors
Getting outside is like hitting a reset button. Nature is healing, but it's also energizing. Feel the sun on your skin and the sand between your toes. Take long walks, ride a bike, go for a swim. Pick flowers, collect seashells, feed the ducks, break a sweat.
2. Find the stillness
Take time out of your day to be still. Sit under a tree or on a park bench and take the time to notice what's going on around you. Watch the bees, listen to the birds, but also pause to take inventory of how you're feeling. What do you need more of in your life? What do you need to let go of? The more you practice checking in with yourself, the easier it becomes to listen. When we're relaxed and in tune with ourselves, we not only make it easier for ourselves to create, we also feel inspired to create.
3. Disconnect in order to reconnect
Choose a weekend to switch off your computer, TV, and smartphone. Make a pact with yourself to not check your social media accounts or emails. Use the time you'd spend on these activities to do something you wouldn't normally do.
4. Do something creative you wouldn't normally do
Switch on some background music, splay some paper out on a table, dip some brushes in paint. Pick up a musical instrument, a notepad and pen for writing, or try your hand at pottery, sewing, or cake decorating. Whatever it is you feel drawn to, shaking things up a bit lets you detach from the mundane and gives you a break from the daily grind so you can go back to your chosen creative outlet with fresh perspective. If you're still looking for that creative outlet that lights you up, keep dabbling. You'll find that with time, you'll find what creative pursuits you're really attracted to, and then you can start cultivating more of that into your life.
5. Read books
Reading opens up so many possibilities for inspiration. It relaxes us, gives us an escape, but also gives us reasons to be curious. Whether you're drawn to reading fiction or nonfiction, it doesn't matter, both have their benefits in giving you time out, while also sparking your imagination.
6. Play around with writing prompts
Prompts offer a beautiful way to keep yourself writing, whether for reflection or to practice specific aspects of your craft. Be open to where prompts can take you with your writing. If you're looking for a mixture of prompts for reflection and creative writing, I share these daily on Instagram.
7. Out with the old to make space for the new
There's so much potency in decluttering and becoming more organized. Decluttering clears not only your living space but your mind. When life feels messy and hectic, your creative space contracts. By becoming more organized, with less clutter in your life, you're ability and desire to create expands, as if by default. If you're needing a little help in this department, try getting your hands on a copy of Marie Kondo's The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up.
For more on writing and creativity visit www.vanessacarnevale.com
Image Credit: Kaboom Pics
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HuffPost's GPS for the Soul app is based on two truths about human beings. First: We all have a centered place of wisdom, harmony and balance within us. Second: We're all going to veer away from that place, again and again and again. What we need is a great course-correcting mechanism -- a GPS for the Soul -- to help us find our way back to that centered place, from which everything is possible.
Because no one knows better than you what helps you de-stress and tap into that place of peace inside yourself, it's important for you to create your very own GPS guide -- a personalized collection of whatever helps you course-correct. Email us at GPS@huffingtonpost.com and we'll set you up with your very own HuffPost blogger account to share your guide on the site. If you're already a blogger, we encourage you to upload your personal guide today. We can't wait to see what you have to share.