Finding Balance and Inspiration

I'll admit I'm a blog reading junkie. It's nearly everyday I surf art blogs seeking out inspiration. And I adore Wed. mornings when the kids are still sleeping and I can have my coffee, surf blogs, and read my newest issue of whatever.

A couple of weeks back D became a little frustrated with the computer and me. Asked my why I was always looking at others work instead of working on my own. Why was I looking for ideas to copy instead of coming up with my own. He read me all wrong on this one. The time I spend reading the magazines and blog surfing is feeding my creative soul. Filling myself back up so I can pour something out on canvas, paper, or whatever. Yes I love to learn new techniques, but what really inspires me is looking at the creations of others. It inspires me to create me, to put me out there in some other form than my physical body. I love nature and art, so it only makes sense that nature and art will inspire me. :) I explained this to him, and he got it.

I quickly want to mention that the new issue of Artful Blogging totally ROCKS!!! Read it cover to cover! My favorite issue yet!

The trick with all of this "inspiration seeking" is not to let it distract me from creating my own projects. It's so easy to get immersed in all the beauty of everything else I don't take the time to create my own things. Once the creative soul is filled up, it's got to come out somewhere or it becomes stale. And there you have a creative block. Finding a balance in feeding a creative spirit can be very difficult. Inspiration needs to be of flow of going in and coming out! This is where I struggle. Too much looking, not enough creating. I'm working on that. :)

Finding a balance in everyday life is difficult too. The kids need this done, the house is a mess, gotta work today, 15 trips to the store, dinner to help with, blah blah blah blah blah. And when I finally take time to work on projects......I FEEL GUILTY! Not ok! I'm working hard to correct this mindset. To realize that as others have inspired me, maybe I can too inspire others. And there is no guilt in that, it's called paying it forward. :) At least that's my justification for it! I'm honestly much happier and centered when I'm consistently creating. Even if it's just a little everyday.