Inspiration Overload

Let's all be honest. There would be no art without  inspiration, right? So, thank goodness to all us creative peeps, there are so many means of inspiration. The wide distribution of books & magazines, the amazing architecture & nature around us & of coarse, the web. Not a morning goes by that I don't check up on my favorite blogs, pinterest, tumblr & instagram. There are millions of inspiring images circulating & sometimes my mind can't get enough.

So here's the question. Can we get too much inspiration?

The past two weeks I have been in a creative block. A very frustrating creative block! There are so many things I want to do, but simply can't. Has this ever happened to you?  I told Drew about my frustration & we started brainstorming what the problem might be. Only after I explained my daily regimen of looking at hundreds of images, the decision was made... I was having an inspiration overload.

My husband is a musician & explained how this used to happen to him frequently. When he writes songs, he often listens to a couple of songs to get his creative juices flowing. But in the past, two or three songs would turn into fifty. He explained how this overload of ideas & styles would just leave him confused & frustrated. He would completely forget the direction he wanted to go when he first sat down to write & his song would either be a jumble of nothing or he would give up entirely. After he started limiting the number of songs he listened to while writing, he began writing the way he wanted to.

The same goes for any other creative field. There is a point of too much inspiration! My solution, limit the time spent looking at images in one sitting. That way, my mind is not overwhelmed & can think clearly about what it's seeing & turn that into inspiration for my own work.

I must acknowledge that everyone is different. What do you need to do for inspiration? I'd love to hear your thoughts.

"The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources." -Einstein