Staying Creative – Writing & Vision Boards

There are all kinds of ways to keep your creative juices flowing and this time of year people are trying to jump start their enthusiasm about what they do and how they do it.
I know I have been! And I want to share these things with you – maybe they’ll be exactly what you need to start the year off on the right foot!

I’ve started with 750Words.com!
So, have you heard about morning pages?
Basically, you sit down everyday, once a day, in the morning and write out all the junk in your brain. Ideally, this release of your garbage helps you get to the good stuff that inspires you and frees you of the heavy criticism, negativity, and the fog that keeps you from really exploring!
Or at least that’s how I’m using it!

Traditionally, The Artist’s Way (the book the brilliant morning pages idea comes from) suggests that you write all that long hand…but I’m just no good at that anymore.
I’m a crazy fast typer – sometimes thinking faster than I type. So, for me, 750Words.com is perfect.
I created a username and got to work trying to write everyday. What’s great about 750Words.com is that it keeps all your writing and archives it – you can always go back to it!
Even better, 750Words offers a statistics page that gives you info about how long it took you to write, what you were feeling and most concerned about, what your mindset was, and your most frequently used words. This stuff is useful when you’re trying to suss out themes or determine where your thoughts are headed.
They also do a monthly challenge that encourages you to write everyday for the whole month!
Give it a try! See if this is a method that might work for you in focusing your creative energy.

Sometimes writing just isn’t enough. Sometimes working with hands-on materials helps to get your head in the right space for inspiration! If this is the case for you then a vision board might be right up your alley!

This weekend I was given the opportunity to join some other folks and make some vision boards for where we see our focus in the new year.

Our host, Kia Ruiz, helped us to craft our themes and gave us ideas about how to make our personal vision boards reflect what our goals might be.
Check out Kia’s blog post here to learn more about her process!

I have to say, I think I should have done a little more homework before heading over to Kia’s place. I had some themes in mind, but really didn’t know how I wanted to represent them visually to create some inspiration about my goals. However, that doesn’t mean that I’m done with my vision board! I’m super inspired by glue sticks, scissors, and clippings – there’s a collage/zine making element to it that really appeals to me.

And to really kick off the year, Kia and her husband Terry served Hoppin’ John and collards!
I already feel my luck changing!

What about you? What are you doing to stay creative? Any traditions you employ at the beginning of the year to keep things fresh? Tell me in the comments!