I often find that when I lack inspiration, exposing myself to new media and scenery can really help. This past weekend, I took a trip up to Penn State University to get a change of location to maybe jump-start my mind and inspire me. On the drive up, I went into my music app and chose an album that a friend of mine had once recommended to me but I had never listened to. By driving along a route that I had not been on before and listening to music that was new to me, I was hoping to introduce some new ideas into my mind and hopefully inspire myself. After both the drive up and back, listening to new albums on both trips, I decided to open up an old, unfinished Illustrator file on my laptop that I had lost interest in a while ago. Feeling stupid, I realized that if I had just used some techniques that I had not been as skilled at before when I had initially started the project, that I would have been able to finish the piece faster and more simply.
I often find, when I am in an art block or unable to do work, that if I move my location and listen to some music, the work becomes much easier to do. I think it can be attributed to the stimulation this introducing to my mind, but cannot be sure. I want to try and use some other methods of inspiring myself though, such as exercise or listening to podcasts instead of music, and see how the effects of these on me differ from my traditional ways of inspiring myself.
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