Riding the Inspiration Rollercoaster

For me Creative Inspiration is more like a rollercoaster than  a Bullet Train. I could structure my life around a train ride, but the rollercoaster is much trickier. I don't want to miss the rush when it comes. During the dips, I may think of nothing more inspired to do than chores, & you can believe that's the last thing I want to do! Often my favorite alternate activities (Duplicate Bridge & visiting my 3 little Gremlins & friends) seem to collide with the unexpected return of Creative Inspiration.

But Creative Inspiration is worth waiting for. I feel totally energized. Can't wait to get up, throw down some breakfast, & get started on something I literally dreamed up the night before. One idea breeds more ideas & more dreams where even engineering details get worked out. At that point I'm in a kind of zone. My creative process rollercoaster is climbing that exciting upward hill... up & up. Love it! Life is good!

I was in such a zone during January & February, which happened to coincide with 2 major trips. Readers might remember that traveling for me absolutely MUST include my beading paraphenalia. (No barking or fleas involved!) I'm still posting the many items made during those travel months.

BUT returning home meant facing my annual tax ordeal-- a major Buzz-Kill! My only inspired thought during that period was how to convince my husband that we need a CPA! BTW I think I've accomplished that mission! Stay tuned:)

But 1 week after Tax Day, I still felt drained. Creative Inspiration had shut down. How could I get it on track again?

Frustrated, I made myself sit at the workbench & start drawing "something." Anything... without editing. You might call this the Kick the Mule Inspiration method. But at some point a few ideas took form. Before I could over-think, I made a template & sawed out 2 large shapes from a piece of VERY expensive sterling sheet, hoping I wouldn't financially regret my new tactic. Then I started playing with the 14k gold-filled wire to make a design I'd sketched, which quickly morphed into something quite different! A few solder points later, you see the result. I could not have been more surprised that kicking the mule not only got it moving, but could produce a result I loved this much. "Swirl in a Hollow" hadn't yet been posted in my Etsy shop, but within 2 hours of posting on my Facebook page, I had a buyer. AKB loved the earrings.

So my new philosophy about Creative Inspiration is this-- If the Rollercoaster method isn't working, I'll try kicking the mule. But I really don't have a lot of confidence in this method yet! QUESTION: So what gets your creative braincells moving again?