Somewhere on Facebook I saw a reference to the book Steal Like An Artist by Austin Kleon. It piqued my interest, so I looked it up on Amazon and bought it right then and there. I devoured it over the weekend. It was such a simple, easy read but it stirred something up inside of me.
I have been feeling such a lack of inspiration to create lately. I mean I really just haven’t created anything at all. I’ve taken photos, yes. But to say I’ve created – well, I can’t. The thing is, by not creating, I’m missing out on so much of who I am. It’s like I’ve lost part of myself.
The title, Steal Like An Artist, comes from the idea that nothing on earth is original. Every idea sparks from something – another work of art, something you’ve read or heard, or even an experience. Everything comes from something, you just take little pieces from all of your experiences and expand on those things to create and make it yours.
This got me thinking about where I get my inspiration from. You guys, it is you – all of you out there on the internet sharing such amazing things with your writing, your photographs, your art. I realized that the time in my life that I felt the most inspired to create was when I was back in the good old days of blogging when there were true connections and it wasn’t all about selling or pushing the next greatest product. I miss those days. I miss the friendships, the connections, and the true sharing of ourselves and our art.
Another of the big takeaways from this book is that to be an artist, you need to create EVERY DAY. Yep, Every. Single. Day. I’ve definitely been missing that step.
There is more, so much more, that I want to implement, but to start I’m going to start creating something every day. I want to start writing again, even if it isn’t always public. Creating may take the form of a blog post, journal entry, photograph, or even a craft project with my kids, but it will be something. I plan to find a way to track it so I can keep myself accountable too.
I want to make sure I am exposing myself to other sources of inspiration as well. I’m going to start following a few bloggers again and actually reading, not just skimming Facebook (Bloggers, where you at?!?). I’m going to be more intentional about who I follow on Instagram and other photo sites. I may even pick up some art history books at the library this summer.
The tricky part will just be finding the time and actually sticking to it. Here goes…
Comments closed