When inspiration isn’t always there

Inspiration can drive us. It can spark our imaginations, make us feel excited to carry on. It’s hope, it’s magic, it’s a muse. And it’s not always there. When we feel stuck, when we search for meaning or motivation to keep creating, it’s one of the things we often look for. Or maybe we wait for it to come, descend from the heavens and grant us the ‘big idea.’ Oftentimes though it's all about cultivating your curiosity, being present, paying attention to your surroundings and engaging with it. It’s about doing rather than waiting. Showing up even when your muse is nowhere to be found. Here are a few ways we’ve found inspiration or at the very least got us to keep going.

Go for a walk (or take a seat)

Taking a stroll or parking yourself in a bench or a café is an opportunity to observe everyday life, maybe find details we otherwise wouldn’t notice when our eyes are not glued to a screen. If you sit all day though, walking is the better option.

After looking into the creativity levels of people while they walked and shortly thereafter (vs. when they remain seated), researchers found that walking boosts creative inspiration more. It doesn’t even matter where you do it—outdoors or inside a ‘boring’ room—the creative juices flowed for both.

Explore an 'old' neighborhood

Traveling to a new place is a great way to engage our senses, which can allow us to look at things from another perspective or enrich our way of thinking. But traveling somewhere new and exotic isn’t always possible, either because of work or budget. A temporary fix and one that can still expose you to new sights, smells, sounds, etc. is to explore an ‘old’ neighborhood.

You don’t even have to go far, it can be a familiar city where you can still discover hidden gems like Makati, which turns serene during weekend mornings. Take your bike around bustling BGC or laidback San Juan. They may be familiar because of their towering office buildings and sprawling shopping centers, but they still hold many places that can spark some creative inspiration. (So be sure to click on the links above.)

Spend the day in a museum or library

Stimulating our curiosity and expanding our knowledge is another way to get those creative juices flowing. Hit the local museum for some exhibits. (In the metro, Ayala Museum has the interactive exhibition, “Amorsolo: Chroma” until early September; Fundacion Sanso will have “Sansó: Continuum,” a tribute exhibit in June; the National Museums in Manila have permanent exhibitions that are worth a visit any time of the year.)

You can also drop by bookshops and libraries (the more popular ones are the National Library, Filipinas Heritage Library and Lopez Museum and Library) and go down a rabbit hole of info on Philippine history, literature, culture, and tens and thousands of titles. Our own Mess Studio, which we relaid out recently, has its own humble community library on local arts and crafts, and titles that celebrate the beauty of handmade.

Reach out to fellow makers and artists

Connecting with other creatives can also offer inspiration aside from being an opportunity to learn, gain new perspectives, or find unexpected collaborations. In most of our interviews with Common Room makers, many of them cite the importance of meeting like-minded individuals or finding your own little support group, which becomes a possibility when you go out there and reach out to fellow makers and artists.

Watch out for art markets and fairs, talk to people about dream projects. Marvz Conti was inspired to create Studio Habil, his own line featuring moss wall art, terrariums, and other nature-inspired home decor, after he went to Saturday Future Market in Escolta. Designer Kookie Santos collaborated with Jen Horn, who had been wanting to make conversation cards that celebrate being Filipino.

“We were talking about dream projects…when Jen came up to me to design the cards, it was really more of a designer-client relationship at the start, but the more we got into it, we realized there’s something here, why don’t we just partner together and do this.” And from there, Ugnayan Cards came to be.

Change your daily routine

Routines are important. Studies have indicated that they can help manage stress, promote better sleep and mental health, and can offer a sense of comfort during times of instability. Breaking one’s routine though, particularly when you feel like you’re just going through the motions of the day, is believed to stimulate our brain. (A lot of it has to do with our neuroplasticity or our brain being the overachieving organ that can adapt and rewire itself to create new pathways.)

The change doesn't always have to be earth-shattering. To break the monotony, you can start small— like not checking your phone the minute you wake up, changing where you work at home, taking an unscheduled break to walk around the block, inserting an hour a week to journal, or even…

Try something new (or think like a beginner)

It can be a new artistic medium or style, repairing your own clothes, going from making digital art to handmade—there are many possible new things to try. When we try something new, something outside our field of expertise, we get to take on a beginner mindset more easily. (Think about the positive characteristics of a beginner—eager to learn and open to new ideas.)

There’s a famous quote from a Zen master that states, “in the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert’s there are few.” It shows how a beginner’s perspective is valuable even when you deem yourself already an expert. Thus, even if what we’re doing is in our field of study and gained expertise on, a beginner’s mind helps us to withhold judgement or preconceptions, it leaves us to be more open to discovering something new, which can possibly inspire, keep us creating, or at the very least, point us to the next step. Because while inspiration is wonderful to have, we’ve got to remember that consistently showing up for our work or our art even when inspiration isn’t there is just as essential.