3 Ways to Stay Creative in a Pandemic: Space, Scroll, Share

Remember sitting at a cute coffee shop downtown and being able to grasp inspiration from the hustle and bustle around you? Yeah, me neither. It is so hard to add things to your vision board when your perspective is limited to your home and maybe the grocery store and your daily walks. Often times, my outdoor time feels extremely blocked, literally because of wearing a mask and figuratively because the focus is no longer the beauty of being outdoors but just your destination. I definitely had my share of binging trashy reality TV and using the excuse of corona for not creating but here are a few things that helped spark motivation and inspiration whenever I lost sight of it, the 3 S’s:

1|Have a Space to Create

Trying to paint or write in the same place you eat sleep and watch TV is extremely counterproductive. While doing research for this blog, I noticed a trend of professionals emphasizing that your environment has a huge impact on your ability to innovate. I’ll make your life easier and summarize the four main points to creating an ideal environment that were consistent across the board: surroundings, noise, light, and weirdly enough color.

Surroundings could be as much as going from your bed to your backyard with some sunshine. If you’re at a desk, make sure its clear and strategically place things on there that uplift you like artwork you love, pictures of your family, or some succulents for that “Pinterest” aesthetic. Noise for me is having the perfect Spotify playlist of my current favorites or even popping the window open to hear the wind outside can do wonders for your mind. For some, hearing conversations or TV blocks their ability to think or focus but I also love listening to podcasts at times! The point is to have the right kind of auditory environment.

Next, its all about the lighting isn’t it? Natural light contains something called “blue light” which boosts the immune system and increases dopamine levels. Basically, you get the right lighting and you get the best results (pro-tip for your insta feed too). Finally, since this blog’s focused on trying to stay creative and make art, color is a BIG deal. Bright and playful colors can spark innovation and out-of-the-box ideas but solid and monotone colors can increase your focus so find what works for you and stick to it. Next time you sit down to write or paint or draw, look around and check your space out.

2|Scroll to Motivate

Here is your chance to take something you are already doing and turn it into something a little more productive. I am pretty sure we have all spent a good chunk of our quarantine time scrolling mindlessly on Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, Pinterest, and the list goes on. I realized that during this time “wasted,” some posts and videos actually began inspiring me. Initially it was a one-off post that would remind me to create new artwork or post more content for my business and then slowly my feed and account dynamic changed. If you watched the social dilemma, you know that your apps are always watching and your feed is curated for you, so why not turn it into something helpful.

As I engaged with more creative content, the Instagram algorithm did its thing and made social media a lot more useful to me. I think we can all agree when I say that social media has really transformed during covid. Sometimes, it got extremely exhausting and overwhelming and other times, it was very resourceful. It eventually changed my way of using some of the free time we all have and use it as an opportunity. Seeing other brands come out with new content and artists use this time to create more really got me off my lazy butt and enough to open procreate or write a new blog.

3|Share Ideas to Process

The desire to disconnect and stare at anything but a screen increased by so much over the last few months. After a long day of Zoom classes or meetings, it’s so hard to want to respond to texts or even stay up-to-date on social media. Although I do highly recommend that off-screen time, I also think it helps a lot to set aside time to reconnect with friends and even network to meet new people.

I began working on a few collaborations for my business during this time and I would initially dread another Zoom call after my 9–5 consulting job full of meetings. But once, I started those conversations with some really inspiring women and shared my ideas, it was almost like I didn’t want the call to end. This applied to even the moments I would share my new art or product ideas with my closest friends and parents. Talking on the phone and bouncing random thoughts during a time when we are starting to disconnect from normal human connection was definitely crucial for me finding motivation and inspiration to create and do more.