Creative springboards

Since Monday night, I have been OBSESSING over this song. Taylor did a live video chat to share news about her new album that’s coming out in October. At the end of it, she played her new single, “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together.” It’s thirteen different kinds of amazing (as usual), and I’ve been listening to it nonstop. And for the first time in months, I sat down on my bedroom floor and wrote song lyrics.

Taylor Swift always makes me feel like I’m slacking. The girl has sixteen songs on her new album, and I’ve written maybe two all year. Something about her makes me want to be super creative. All it took was listening to her talk about the work she’s been doing on her album, and I was writing again. Maybe it’s because we have similar creative processes and styles. Or maybe it’s because she’s my age. Either way, thanks Taylor!

Are there any people/places/things that are surefire motivation for you to be creative? (and yes, Pinterest counts!)

creativity.

I have been obsessed with cooking lately. And not just sticking some break-and-bake cookie dough in the oven. I’ve made pizza from scratch, chicken salad, a pizza casserole with pepperoni and mozzarella on top, scones, and loaves of bread. I spend my time on Pinterest, pinning new recipes to try. I love it! I’ve always known how to follow a recipe, and last summer I went through a brief phase where I cooked a few of my mom’s recipes, but I’ve never been this into it.

The other day, I was thinking about how cooking is a form of creativity. I’ve been having a little trouble writing lately (thankfully I think that struggle is passing, though), and cooking has been a really fun way to express myself. This morning I read a blog post at YA Highway by Kristin Briana Otts about how she was struggling with her writing, so she started drawing. After a few days of creative release through sketching, she was able to fall back into writing easily. She says:

“I have this theory that art begets art…Creativity is all linked. The joy of scribbling on a sketchpad can translate to the joy of breathing characters to life. By learning and delighting in other forms of art, we're not taking away from another. We're only appreciating new ways of setting our creativity free.”

I think cooking has done that for me. I’ve also been making jewelry. I learned how to bead (yes, I’m using ‘bead’ as a verb here) while I was in South Africa, and it’s so relaxing and gives me something to do with my hands while I’m watching TV. I’ve made so many bracelets and anklets and things, and it’s just another way to express myself creatively.

Thoughts? What do you do when you’re stuck on a project?