Inspiration: 2 forms & 18 tips to stimulate your senses
Your partner’s birthday is coming up and you still don’t have a gift idea. Your head is empty, you just can’t think of anything. We explain how to best stimulate your senses and what inhibits your inspiration.
In some situations, inspiration is simply lacking. That said, there are several ways you can get inspired. What they are, you will learn in the following. We also added some inspirational quotes to get you inspired.
What inspiration is
Inspirations are spontaneous inspirations that you sometimes have to wait quite a long time for. Most often, the term refers to artistic and creative processes, but inspirations are helpful in other areas as well.
When you’re in an emotional slump and lack motivation, an inspirational idea is worth its weight in gold.
The term inspiration is derived from the Latin word "inspiratio".
So you have a sudden impulse or unexpected thought that frees you from a stuck situation. A flash of inspiration makes you happy and helps solve your problems.
Finding inspiration, however, is not always easy. There are many factors that can be an obstacle. For example, if you search for an idea under pressure, you are unlikely to be successful. Below, we give tips for stimulating your senses and explain what inhibits your inspiration.
Forms of inspiration
Inspiration plays a role in a wide variety of life situations. In general, the inspiration process always follows a certain pattern. Inspiration has a lot to do with spontaneity.
In an unexpected moment you suddenly have an inspiration. A thought comes to you or you remember something that won’t let you go. This intuition leads you to look at a situation from a completely new perspective.
Often you are not even aware of it, because this process takes place in your subconscious. The new way of looking at things leads you to feel the need to express or implement an idea.
Artistic Inspiration
Artists need inspiration so that they can create new works. It is the starting point of all creativity.
If an artist has a sparkling idea, it is also said that he was kissed by the muse. The term muse comes from Greek mythology and originally referred to a divine source of inspiration.
Nowadays, people are also muses, usually beautiful and strong in character women who inspire artists to create your art.
Feelings can also evoke creative inspiration. Emotional coldness or pure joy of life – these are all things that artists incorporate into their work. Especially when an artist has a strong emotional connection to a certain person, that person’s behavior triggers something in him.
Thus, a conflict, which at first glance seems only negative, can have positive effects on artistic creation when reflected upon.
If you need advice on how to resolve a conflict you may find help in this article.
Religious Inspiration
In religious terms, inspiration is understood as inspiration from something divine. Christian churches call the Bible the Word of God because, according to doctrine, it was inspired by God’s Spirit. There are different interpretive approaches to this so-called doctrine of inspiration.
Tips for more inspiration
Finding inspiration is sometimes not so easy. The following tips will help you stimulate your senses and target your inspiration.
By paying attention to certain things and being aware of which aspects help your inspiration and which tend to inhibit it, you can train, optimize and target your energy.
Break your daily routine
If you want to stimulate your senses, it’s best to start by turning your everyday life around. Everyone has certain routines in their daily lives. Some you have consciously trained yourself to do, others you don’t really notice.
Routines bring structure into your life and provide orientation. But they also inhibit your inspiration.
Think about how you can break out of your daily routines. Look for creative solutions and try new ways. This will boost your motivation and inspiration. It’s important that you’re not afraid to leave familiar thought patterns behind.
Be patient
It sometimes takes days, weeks, or even months for you to have an inspiring thought on a particular topic. Until then, it’s a matter of staying calm and being patient.
Every now and then it’s quite exhausting and nerve-wracking, especially if you’ve been waiting for inspiration for a very long time. You have to learn to deal with it and wait. The best ideas will come to you when you’re not expecting them.
Distract yourself
Don’t keep thinking about how you just don’t have any good ideas. Doing so will only put pressure on yourself and inhibit your inspiration.
Instead, distract yourself by exercising or meeting up with your best friend. Meditation is also a good idea. Try to clear your mind as much as possible and think about nothing at all. This will help you relax and make room for new thoughts.
View familiar things from a new angle
Inspiration is all around you, just waiting to be discovered. Try taking a walk down your street. Take a good look around. You’re bound to discover things you’ve never seen before.
Maybe there are nice little stores and you see something interesting in the windows? Or you really notice the trees in a nearby park for the first time. Their colors and shapes can be creative inspirations. Even a forest bath stimulates your senses.
Be curious
If you’re curious, you’re always learning new things. Think about trying a new hobby. Maybe you feel like playing the piano, learning a new language, or weaving yourself a scarf?
New hobbies get your brain cells going and offer a change of pace and relaxation from the daily grind. If you’re engaged and enthusiastic, you’ll quickly find new inspiration.
Listlessness and disinterest inhibit your inspiration and your ability to think. To avoid this, it’s best to think about what drives you.
Don’t be afraid to make a mistake. This is completely normal when learning new things.
Be spontaneous
Spontaneity is inspiring. Don’t hold on to habitual patterns of order, but throw your rules and plans overboard every now and then.
If something turns out differently than planned, you should see it as an opportunity and definitely take the new path. Improvisation also often brings forth new inspirations.
If a spontaneous inspiration comes to you, it is important to follow it. Maybe something great will result from it.
It may be that it comes at a moment that doesn’t suit you at all or in which you don’t have time to deal intensively with your idea. Then you note the idea and think about it at a later time.
Be self-critical and able to take criticism
If you find it difficult to free yourself from fixed thought structures, it helps if you question yourself. This is often a way out of the blockade. A precise self-reflection is crucial. Use the following questions to guide you:
- What problem am I facing exactly?
- What approach is there to solve the problem?
- Have I overlooked or done something wrong?
Critical thinking skills can also help you find inspiration. Other people look at certain things from an alternative point of view. Do not feel attacked if you are criticized, but see it as an opportunity to develop yourself further.
Design something
Get creative and sew a garment of your own design. Crafty, creative work stimulates your imagination and makes you happy.
It also helps you get to know yourself and your preferences better. This can lead to a changed self-perception, which in turn is often a source of inspiration.
Talk to friends
Communication helps in the search for inspiration. Conversations with friends result in entirely new thought patterns. Issues may be brought up that you hadn’t thought about before. The feeling of being part of a community has an additional positive impact on your self-esteem.
Get out of your comfort zone
Your comfort zone is an area where you feel comfortable and at ease. It is not a specific place, but a whole way of life. If you have settled into your comfort zone, you will certainly find it very difficult to venture into new things and engage with new experiences and people.
However, leaving your comfort zone is very important for your inspiration. Don’t be afraid to take a chance. Conversations with strangers can give you ideas that would never have occurred to you before, visiting unfamiliar places stimulates your senses and gets your brain cells going.
Meet new people
Once you’ve stepped out of your comfort zone, it’s time to meet new people. You can do this by finding a new hobby, joining a club, or volunteering.
Getting into conversation with people you’ve had nothing to do with before will open up a lot of new perspectives.
Take some time off
Taking time off is the perfect source of inspiration, because you escape your everyday life and inevitably have to free yourself from your routines. A trip to the sea is a great way to relax, and a city break is a great way to discover new things.
If you want to learn something during your time out, a language trip is recommended. If you need a longer break from your work routine, a sabbatical is a good idea.
You can use the sabbatical year to travel or to further your education. New inspirations are sure to come during it.
Gather ideas while brainstorming
Brainstorming is a practical way to gather new ideas. You probably had some experience with it in school. The basic idea of brainstorming is to collect all the information about a certain topic.
You let your imagination run wild and let your thoughts bubble out of you completely unfiltered. Later, you sort your thoughts and have the opportunity to combine them or think about them more intensively. This is how ideas emerge from previously disconnected or incoherent thoughts.
Order your thoughts in a mindmap
A mindmap also helps you find inspiration. It serves to structure your thoughts and make them clearer.
The term "mindmap" is made up of two words. The word "mind" refers to your thoughts, and the word "map" refers to the map on which you visualize your thoughts.
There are no limits when creating a mindmap. You can use an online program or write with colored pens on a large sheet of paper.
Especially after brainstorming, mind maps are a good choice. You can use them to organize your seemingly unrelated ideas and bring them together in an overview. Once your mind map is finished, it should resemble a map.
You build a mind map as follows: In the middle of the sheet is the main topic. From this, sub-topics and sub-themes emerge. You highlight individual strands in color to make the structure of your map clear.
This way you can see which topics are important and which are rather secondary. Pictures help with the visualization and create new associations. You can always expand your mind map. So it is never really finished.
Don’t be a perfectionist
You shouldn’t expect every idea that you have to be perfectly implementable. Sometimes you’ll need to tweak or rethink them a bit. So it’s worth investing some time in your ideas.
Inspirations are suggestions that need to be worked out and implemented. Perfectionism is out of place.
Be prepared that you will fail sometimes. That’s not a bad thing, because you learn from your mistakes.
It is an advantage if you have many different ideas that are not yet fully developed. Then work on them and combine them into one big innovative idea. Don’t always just have the goal in mind, but also the development process.
Don’t be dogged
Doggedness may lead to success in certain things, but it is poison for a free mind in search of inspiration. It means that you’re going at it with vigor, but you’re stiffening up too much about it. This is not conducive to stimulating your senses.
If you have the impression of being too dogged, you should try to relax and clear your head. Try yoga exercises or relaxation techniques.
Don’t get stressed
Stress is another block to inspiration. Even though you may think you have the best ideas under time pressure, it’s advisable to allow yourself rest and relaxation.
Then you can let your thoughts wander and are open for spontaneous inspirations. If you constantly think about your problem, no idea will come to you.
If you need tips on how to relieve stress, you can read this article.
Don’t get discouraged
Sometimes it takes a little longer for you to come up with a bright idea. Don’t let that discourage you, but keep trying.
The important thing is to always believe in yourself and be convinced that inspiration will eventually overtake you. Then even small insecurities won’t get you off track.
Inspirational quotes
The following inspirational quotes will help you to get inspired. Maybe you’ll get new ideas or you are even able to make a change in your life.
- "There is nothing impossible to they who will try."
(Alexander the Great) - "Keep your face always toward the sunshine, and shadows will fall behind you."
(Walt Whitman) - "What lies behind you and what lies in front of you, pales in comparison to what lies inside of you."
(Ralph Waldo Emerson) - "It is during our darkest moments that we must focus to see the light."
(Aristotle) - "Everyone has inside of him a piece of good news. The good news is that you don’t know how great you can be! How much you can love! What you can accomplish! And what your potential is!"
(Anne Frank) - "Live your beliefs and you can turn the world around."
(Henry David Thoreau) - "It is never too late to be what you might have been."
(George Eliot) - "In order for the light to shine so brightly, the darkness must be present."
(Sir Francis Bacon) - "The only journey is the one within."
(Rainer Maria Rilke) - “Stay away from those people who try to disparage your ambitions. Small minds will always do that, but great minds will give you a feeling that you can become great too.”
(Mark Twain)