Need inspiration? Organize something.

Where does your inspiration come from?

I seek it in a lot of places--art books, nature, magazines, places I travel...

However, it recently struck me: I am most inspired after I have organized something.

And it doesn't really matter what I've organized.  I am not necessarily inspired to paint more when I have my painting supplies organized.  But I may be after I have cleaned out the kitchen cabinets or revamped the filing system in the office.

Just the act of getting things in order, and feeling like I have accomplished a task puts me in the mood to create.

I discussed this with other creative friends and I was surprised to find that they all felt similarly!  It seems that for most of us, creativity thrives in a setting that's devoid of clutter, mental or tangible, and has less to do with the actual creative task at hand.

So, I will continue to find inspiration in the world around me, but when I really need to get my creativity flowing, I think I'll resort back to the mundane, like rearranging my work table, cleaning out my email inbox, and going through the ever-present stack of mail on the kitchen counter.  Because you've got to do what works, right?!