Ways I Fuel My Creativity
I’m an author of a lot of books and a lot of blogs— 40+ and 3,000+ respectfully! I write a lot. I plot a lot, but one of my biggest weaknesses is in taking time to consider how to fuel my soul. There’s a lot outbound and if I’m not careful I get drained.
Ways I fuel my writing day:
- Reading God’s Word
- Writing a prayer in my journal
- Reading a devotional book
- Reading inspiring blogs
- Chasing my kids around
- Feeding my visual senses at Pinterest
- Listening to my favorite songs via Spotify
- Reading People.com (okay, mostly looking at the new babies)
- Doing a craft with my kids
- Reading a chapter of a novel
- Chatting with a friend
- Looking through stock photos and playing with PicMonkey
I used to think of these things as procrastination or obstacles, but I’ve found that when I give myself time to listen to words, to see lovely images, and to laugh and play, I’m filling up the creative fuel that allows the words to flow.
I’ve also discovered it’s important to brainstorm big ideas. Yes, writing a shopping list is planning, but at least every few weeks I like to jot down notes about “big-picture dreams.”
A few things that made it from ideas to reality:
- Taking our teens on a mission trip (turned into three trips in three years)
- Adopting a baby (we’ve since adopted three)
- Write a book with a business guru (Ken Blanchard and I wrote Lead Your Family Like Jesus!)
- Do a book-signing tour (my friend joined me.)
- Go on a cruise (we’ve been on 2.)
- Be on the Focus on the Family Radio Program (I’ve been on twice.)
- Visit the Holocaust Museum in DC
Things I’m still dreaming about…
- Have one of my novels made into a movie
- Taking all my kids (including the new ones) on a Disney cruise
- Being invited to be on the Today Show
- Living in the Czech Republic with my family for a year
- Taking a Mediterranean cruise
- Visit New York City
How about you? Do you take time to feed your creativity? Do you take time to feed your dreams?
We’ll all get burnt out if we don’t create, explore, enjoy, hug, laugh, and dream. I guarantee you’ll be more efficient with your writing work when you feed these parts of your soul!
Prayer
God, thank you for fueling my dreams and creativity. You are a life-giver! I ask that you continue to fuel my desires and dreams. Breathe creativity into my days and nights.
More Resources
Creativity by Matthew Fox
Creativity According to the Kingdom by Matt Tommey
Roaring Lambs by Robert Briner
And the Winners Are…!
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Thank you for this! I am a new blogger and I have found that I can find the inspiration to write an entire post from a phrase on a tv show or a snippet from a song, or from simply getting out and experiencing life, something that is outside my normal routine.
Something I am dreaming of is writing my first book, or maybe my first two books. 🙂 I have two ideas rolling around in my head right now. Also, I want to visit Scotland and Ireland.
Keep writing, friend!! Keep fueling your creativity!
We want to move to Haiti as missionaries. But we have to find a source of income that can be done online in order to do what we want. So I better keep writing and someday, hopefully start having novels published. I draw and paint to keep my creative juices going and to unwind. There is something about doing another form of art that helps keep me on track.
Melinda, yes, keep writing!