31 Ways to Re-Inspire the Muse (Part Three)

This past couple of weeks, I've been listing the different ways you can re-inspire your muse. Today, I'm completing that list with the final eleven points. 


1. Practice meditation -- meditation is a treat for the stressed out mind. Not only will it help to de-clutter that mental dumping ground in your poor tired head, it also promotes creativity and clarity. And that's barely scratching the surface! You may feel a little silly, to begin with, and you probably won't feel the effects straight away. But with a stronger, clearer mind, you're in a much better place to work on your projects.
2. Join a forum of like-minded people -- when you have long-term projects, a time will inevitably come when you've been looking at them for far too long. Reaching this point may feel a lot like a shortage of inspiration. However, getting a second opinion can make a world of difference and save hours, even days of frustration. Join a forum of like-minded people to bounce your ideas off, or even have a rant. It's likely that many will be in the same boat as you.
3. Create something -- what better way to refill your creative well than to do exactly that -- create? When you remove such crippling things as expectation, perfectionism and inadequacy, you may find that creating simply for the sake of creating is a pretty liberating experience. Why not try your hand at something new? No one is going to judge your finished piece. The point of this not to achieve a finished product, but to have fun. Who knows? You may even find something you're really good at.
4. Watch TED videos -- TED stands for Technology, Entertainment and Design. It's a great website packed with short video talks on every topic under the sun. Leading experts and big thinkers from all over the world are invited to present their revolutionary ideas and theories in a short presentation and inspire their audience. Each talk is no longer than twenty minutes; the perfect length for a coffee break. Also, the queueing system inside their app allows you save interesting videos for another day.
5. Read interesting blogs -- you can find all sorts of interesting reading material when looking at other people's blogs. What kind of lives do they lead? What are they good at? Browsing at what's already out there will give your muse plenty of ideas of its own. Everything your mind absorbs gets poured into the great big oven of your mind. As you add more content to the simmering mix, its flavours start to strengthen and grow. When it's ready, the end result is a juicy pie of an idea.
6. Learn a new skill -- learning a brand new skill has many benefits. One great reason to do so is that it encourages you to step outside of your comfort zone. This can seem scary at first, and you may feel like you're doing more flailing than treading water (I know. I love analogies). But the more you practice, the more confident you get and with your brand new skill, set you'll be experiencing things you otherwise wouldn't done. 
7. Cook something delicious -- to some, cooking is simply a necessity. We eat to survive, we cook to eat. But food can also be an art form. Take a traditional dish and add your own personal twist. Add some spice to an otherwise average meal. Cooking for the experience itself is something entirely different. And the process of creating something delicious from scratch can be both inspiring and rewarding. 
8. Create a mood -- before I sit down to write, I generally go through the same few actions every time: put the table up, get my laptop out, make some coffee, check a few emails. By which time, my mind knows where I'm heading and is ready to get down to business. By experimenting with your own rituals, you can create a mood that encourages your muse to work at its optimum level. You could light a few candles, play some music or even put on your favourite comfy hat.
9. Travel -- seeing new things is a great way to soak up inspiration for those creative projects. But a more effective way to re-inspire your muse is to go out and actually experience the world first hand. Stimulate your senses by  giving them new things to smell, touch and taste. Discover new places and really dig deep beneath the surface of each place you visit. You may not be able to go far, but even heading out beyond your local area will help to recharge your creative mind. 
10. Join a group or club -- depending on where you live, meet up groups can be common, or far and few between. If you are able to find a group in your local area, it can have some great benefits. For one, discussing ideas within a group can be a great way to motivate your wavering commitment midway through a project. As well as that, any friendly assignments set within group meetings will be time sensitive, requiring completion before your next meetup. 
11. Go for a drive -- aside from the obvious fact that safe driving requires vigilance and concentration, going for a drive is the perfect way to get those cogs in your mind turning. Like taking a long hot shower or bath, a repetitive task, along with any decent length of time is a magic combination. Repetitive tasks only require a small amount of brainpower, freeing up the rest of your mind to work  on other things; such as your current project. 

Missed a post? Catch up with part one here and part two here. 
Give me your thoughts in the comments below!

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