Gather

Gather. 

I'm reading an intriguing little book (my favorite kind) about creativity entitled, Your Idea Starts Here, by Carolyn Eckert. As you probably know I'm pretty much obsessed with creativity. I've written about it often, and am always on the look out for inspiration.

She begins her book writing about how to generate ideas. Her first step is to "Gather- Accumulate things you like that might or might not work...don't think, just collect. You're gathering inspiration."

As I thought about this I realized that my conscious effort to bring fewer actual things into my home, might be curtailing my creativity. I often find myself collecting ideas, but I'm not always good about recording them. 

Elizabeth Gilbert in her book, Big Magic, writes about how ideas are sent our way, and if ignored are sent packing to someone else who's more willing to pay attention. By honoring these ideas there is a greater chance of them coming to fruition.

Creativity flourishes when you observe your surroundings. I'm going to be more aware of anything that catches my eye. At the time I may not know exactly why, but I want to trust my inner leanings as to why I find it interesting. 

If I still want to live a less cluttered life I can always snap a picture of it, and collect these objects using a collage format on my phone. I like the idea, "don't think, just collect." Who knows where this might take you?