NOURISHING CREATIVITY in everyday life

• Read a book about creativity, technique or the creative process
• Look at photo and art books, as long as they are inspiring or make you think or feel
• Meditate or simply daydream
• Seek solitude and experience silence
• Engage in direct contact with nature
• Go for a walk in a new place or walk a familiar route in a new way
• Take a drive to somewhere new, slow down, take the scenic route
• Journal about your artistic process and struggles.
• Don’t forget to write about your success too!
• Set specific intentions about your creative life
• Actively listen to passionate music without multitasking
• Play a musical instrument or sing, join a band or choir
• Prepare and cook healthy, nutritious sensual meals to share or just for yourself
• Pay attention to your heart’s longings
• Acknowledge emptiness; don’t mindlessly fill it
• Look at the work of other artists and photographers, without comparing yourself to them
• Go to galleries and museums and experience art in person
• Attend a live music event or see a play
• Nourish your spiritual needs
• Enjoy simple or repetitive tasks: sweeping the floor, washing the car, mowing the lawn…
• Practice being non-judgmental towards both others and yourself
• Be less self-deprecating (unless you are the POTUS)
• Start a dialog with friends about art, creativity or the need for self-expression
• Practice saying no to something that takes away from your creative time
• Say yes to something new, scary or different
• Leave space in your daily and weekly schedule or routine for serendipity
• Put yourself first occasionally; value yourself and your time as much as you do others
• Support the creativity of others and help others develop their artistic process
• Don’t over schedule yourself, make time for play
• Do not neglect your own needs
• Cultivate friends who value or actively and regularly participate in making art
• Revisit and/or re-edit past photos or photo projects
• Take a class or a workshop, maybe in another discipline like drawing or pottery 
• Join or start a photo, art or creativity support group 
• Look at and comment on photos on the Vision Quest Facebook page
• Post photos in the Vision Quest Facebook page, ask for specific feedback if desired
• Sign up for a Vision Quest Photo Workshop to have something to look forward to!
• Go make new photos!

© Douglas Beasley 2017