Stagnation: the enemy of Inspiration

This is a photo of my loungeroom/livingroom. I took it approximately five minutes ago. Here you can see the mess and the strong influence of my children.

This is the scene I have been staring at for the last several weeks.

In this shot you can see where I’ve been sitting. To the left, on the couch, in front of my ancient laptop that I can read from, but not type. It has kept me sane through many a long hour with little baby Izzy (who is not so little anymore).

So why am I writing about this? How is it relevant? Well, I’ve been feeling rather uninspired and unmotivated this week. I haven’t lifted a finger in the direction of my art or even my blog. Brand new fancy blog and I’m ignoring it. Quite depressing really.

So why have I been like this?  Before Christmas I had all these plans, was super excited and inspired like crazy. What happened?

Nothing.

Absolutely nothing.

I’ve been sitting in this room every day doing the same thing every day, brain dripping out of my ears. I’ve been stagnating.

It is hard to get out of the house with two kids. Honestly, sometimes it can be so hard that the stress involved in getting the kids ready and into the car is just not worth it. So I’ve been staying home a lot.

Which is fine for a short time, but before I realised it, it became a habit. I have a lazy streak a mile wide running down the centre of my forehead (it’s a big forehead :D) and it is easier for me to keep doing what I’m doing than get the effort up to start something new. So I’ve been staying home a lot.

It has been hot weather, so it is better to stay inside so we don’t get sunburnt. So I’ve been staying home a lot.

Pick an excuse. So I’ve been staying home a lot.

Tonight we went out. Didn’t go far. Just took the kids to a nice shady park for a picnic tea with takeaway. Got out into the elements, breathed a breath of fresh air.

And now? Oh goodness, the difference in my thinking. Within a short time of getting home, I was planing paintings, thinking about blog posts, picking up that WordPress book I started to read, but then put down a few weeks back. The brain is back in gear!

The moral of this babbling story? If you are feeling down, uninspired, unmotivated, or just plain ergh, change direction, throw yourself out of the loop you’ve likely driven yourself into. Go outside, do something different, move your furniture around – recently Hubby and I moved our bedroom suite around – I still feel like I’m sleeping in a hotel since the furniture hadn’t been moved for thirteen years.

Go on a holiday, somewhere you’ve never been before. I visited Cairns on the Great Barrier Reef on my honeymoon. The tropics are vastly different from the wild I’m used to. My artistic brain nearly exploded I had so many ideas while I was there.

Sometimes we get into a rut without realising it. Lack of motivation and inspiration are a sure sign we need to make a change and freshen up.

Because  stagnation is the enemy of inspiration.

Nutty
(who might go out tomorrow as well)