Routines and the seemingly elusive creative zap of inspiration you long for do co-exist.
Really, they do.
Actually noticing the creative zap is about your perspective from within the routine.
It’s not about completely changing what you do and who you are, but being willing to look at where your routines are more protective than supportive, more evasive than empowering.
Do you understand why you do it “your” way?
Look at your Routines and Why they Exist, Without Judgment
The routines you’ve crafted to move through your day or created out of self-preservation serve a purpose. They allow you to operate in a space of familiarity and grounding, keeping you rooted while distractions tickle each of your five senses. More importantly, they offer a backdrop for you to navigate change by making it obvious when something seems out of the ordinary or no longer in the flow for you.
A regular routine also helps you fine tune what you desire, clear out the cobwebs and make new connections that stretch your way of life; refresh it with an infusion of inspiration.
There’s a balance needed between action and rest, and that isn’t always easy to remember when you are driven to make things happen, when you push without listening to the insights you are clearly getting within your own practices. It can also be tricky to tell when a supportive routine has morphed into a way to check out and coast instead of truly “resting”.
Being honest about how your patterns serve you allows you to see their beauty and purpose, while also developing skills to notice the zap of creative inspiration within them.
The Creative Zap of Inspiration is Part of Life’s Routines, Not In Spite of Them
Every living thing on this planet has a routine. It’s part of the creative cycle of birth, growth and death and is where the real creative gold is hanging out.
If you are waiting for inspiration to always strike like lightening – totally out of the blue — you are making it really hard for yourself to feel creatively inspired.
Yet, if things were exciting all the time and you had one creative zap after the other, you would be overwhelmed, attention divided and longing for peace and quiet of a boring routine to ground those inspirations and bring them into reality.
When you can be present and approach even the most basic routines in life with a sense of curiosity and openness, you are always expanding your awareness skills.
Before a storm there are clues that something is coming – the dark clouds building, bold gusts of wind, drizzle lining your windshield. The trick is tuning into the clues in the every day; the diamond in the rough that means something to you so you can take it out and polish it up.
Like this week when I was washing the dishes and saw two Blue Heron’s getting to know each other in my backyard. In my routine I saw something very special, something that I could have easily missed had I not been practicing what I already do, every day.
When you see life as a routine, you are unable to notice when a creative zap strikes or realize the creative potential in every moment. The true invitation you have, if you choose to accept it, is to find a way to be spontaneous and open within the routines you create.
How do you find spontaneity within your everyday to-do’s?
Need guidance on how to dig a little deeper into your own routines or shake them up? Connect with me for some Creativity Coaching or check out my Mini Guide for Connecting with your Inner Guidance and Creative Fire.
Photo Credit: LWYang – coffee