Does it ever feel as though your creative well has gone dry? As if all the best ideas were gone? The reality is, inspiration is not a finite resource that you need to chase across oceans or dramatic experiences. It’s everywhere, just waiting to reveal itself in the most mundane of settings. The trick is to develop a “creative eye” — a way of looking at the world that is open, curious and attentive to the unexpected.

Changing The Way You See: All Things Extraordinary Within an Ordinary Life

Developing an eye for the creative is really just a matter of changing how you see. It’s finding something deeper than what’s on the surface, searching for hidden aspects, odd angles, and surprising connections. It’s like training a muscle: The more you do it, the better you get at recognizing those glimmers of inspiration.

Day-to-Day Creativity Kindling

“You’d be amazed to know how many everyday sources can provide that creative spark:

• Nature’s Palette: Go outside, walk through a park, see the intricate patterns on a leaf, how sunlight filters through trees or even just a beautiful sunset. There is no shortage of visual inspiration in the natural world.
• The Urban Landscape: Notes on the architecture, street art, people, daily rhythm of life within a city. There are always stories and visuals in urban environments.
• Commonplace Objects: Look at the things you use every day. What do they look like, feel like, do? Now, in a different light, can you see what they are?
• Human Interactions: Eavesdrop (respectfully!) on girl talk, read body language, and make up stories about her new friend. Human behaviour is a veritable treasure trove of stories.
• Errors and Accidents: Often, some of the most artistic gifts can be the mistakes or happy accidents. Stay open to the unexpected and see what happens.
• Other Art Forms: Expose yourself to other things you can think about – music, literature, art, film, and so on. Observe how artists in other mediums approach their craft, and notice if it inspires any new concepts in your field. Even something as reductive as the strategic analysis informing NBA gambling can provide insight into patterns and probabilities that might apply to creative problem solving elsewhere.
• Your Thoughts and Emotions: Be mindful of what’s going on in your mind and how you are feeling. For good or ill, these personal experiences can be creative dynamite.

Some Tips:

Here are some simple habits that can help you cultivate this mode of perception:

• Ask “What If?” Cultivate a habit of questioning your assumptions and asking ”what if” about the things you see.
• Mix It Up: Walk a different way to work, check out a new neighbourhood, try a new workout. And something fresh can jolt you into a different perspective.
• Bring a Notebook/Sketchbook: Sketch out ideas, interesting shapes, and observations as they come up.
• Learn the art of observation without judgment and distraction: Invest time focused solely on observing without judgement or distraction.
• Change Perspectives: Take a new view of things in the literal sense. Crouch, look up, move in.
• Be Curious: Look at the world with wonder and a wish to be even more educated about it.
• Connect the Dots: Try to find relationships between things that may not seem connected.

The Endless Well of Inspo

Inspiration is not a scarce commodity; inspiration is present in every individual, every moment, and every day. And by intentionally developing a creative eye, you can come to view the world as a limitless resource of ideas that can help you to elevate the ordinary to the extraordinary, and enliven your creative pursuits in a million different ways.

Wrapping Up

So, go ahead: open your eyes, unleash your curiosity and begin to look at the world with new eyes. You’d be amazed at the inspiration that is surounding you all the time, waiting to be found and then moulded into something that is uniquely you.