I, as a young artist, have been inspired by many things but I never really put much thought into the very act of inspiration and the technicalities of it, or even the history.
"Inspiration is something that cannot be waited for--- designers should always actively seek it." Well, what do you know? I have always done the opposite, until recently of course. My usual ways to get started on a project were to wait for it to fall out of the sky. It wasted so much time. To get inspired, you have to actually search for it, becasue it can come in any shape or form like someone's shirt, or a leaf blowing in the wind or even a mandarin orange. I liked how Aspelund referenced Greek myths and how "inspiration was bestowed by one of the nine Muses." I love the feeling of inspiration, becasue whatever it may be it actually feels like a presence is with you when you feel it, it's an actual thing that allows you to explore, broaden your horizons, be in the zone. But as said in the book, "Genies don't return to bottles".
Taking the Momentum to the right heights. While inspired you have to be careful to take it in the right direction, always, because a lot of time can be wasted. I have often found inspiration by looking at other artists' and designers' work, and I was reminded of the positive and negative effects this can have on the finished product. Getting inspiration from other people's work can be toxic if you copy everything that they did and don't even bother to put any of your own creativity to it. I think what makes an art piece, invention, design, or any creation is that it is a part of the person who created it. And, I believe, creativity shows.
All work and no play doesn't work. While reading this i was reminded of being young and the ability to see something for something else. My older siblings and cousins used to pretend that a box was our barn on our ranch when we played roles on the Nickelodeon show "Hey Dude!" I remember making my paper dolls and actually envisioning them coming to life. I looked at them this weekend when I went home and they looked so simple and non life-like. So in the sense, I need to come back to that imagination, only this time, making by visions come true.
Meditative exercise. I found the exercises proposed by Aspelund at the end of the chapter to be very helpful. The questions we must ask ourselves in order to help creative thinking sparked light in my mind becasue some of these things I had already been introduced years ago had been reawakened.
9. Be completely quiet. I worry about my dependence on my earphones and iPod. I wear them to zone out background noise becasue I dislike it. But I'm starting to realize that maybe I'm just zoning out my own thoughts. "If you cannot be still, you will not see clearly. By quieting all this mental fidgeting, you can focus on the present and tap into thoughts and impules." For mental health reasons, I think it's a good idea for everyone to be able to just sit, be completely quiet, and involved in their own present thoughts.
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