Some days, weeks, even months can feel monotonous and uninspired. Sometimes it is as if we are walking around in a daze–or, maybe it’s the feeling of having stepped into a deep, dark hole. If our creative senses are tired, often, all we need is something to give us focus, to inspire us, to invoke ideas—and, to help us find inspiration.

We can’t turn on our creativity like a light switch, but we can find activities which encourage our muse to emerge and spark our imaginations. Plus, being creative helps us ascend from that deep, dark hole and gives us a clearer vision for life.

Ten Ways to Wake Up Your Muse

1. Go to a live performance or concert.

2. Go for a drive. Take a walk.

3. Visit a museum.

4. Visit your local botanical garden.

5. Break up your routine. Try a new restaurant. Walk in a new neighborhood. Take a scenic route on the drive to work.

6. Explore other creator’s works. See what other creatives have already done. Don’t compare yourself to them, simply let their work spark your own imagination.

7. Explore different art forms from your own.

8. Change-up your creative habits. Any approach that is different from the way we normally work can stimulate our artistic juices. Take your easel to the park. Write in another space in your house or go to a coffee shop. If you compose at the piano, use another instrument for a change. Use a different tuning on your guitar.

9. Listen to podcasts (or watch YouTube) for interviews of people who inspire and motivate you.

10. Relax. Listen to some music. Doodle, paint, or draw. Read short stories or essays by writers you enjoy.

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Always be on the lookout for the presence of wonder.

— E. B. White (1899-1985) American writer

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Bonus suggestion:

Get in touch with nature. Go outside. Notice the textures and colors. Listen to the insects and birds. Feel the air on your skin. Watch a sunrise or sunset. 

More suggestions:

Play. Work a puzzle. Make a collage. Build Lego sculptures. Sudoku. Crossword. Build a house of cards.

Use these activities to wake up your muse. Creativity is being free to wonder, dream, play, explore, and express. Build something. Write something. Create something.

Creating and exploring aren’t merely artistic choices, but also healthy life choices. Making art (of any kind) is good for you! The world is waiting for you to dream, imagine, to conjure up words and phrases, ideas, sounds, images . . . for everyone to enjoy.

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What is most personal and unique in each one of us is probably the very element which would,
if it were shared or expressed, speak most deeply to others.

― Henri J. M. Nouwen (1932-1996) Dutch Catholic priest, professor, writer, and theologian
The Wounded Healer: Ministry in Contemporary Society

Start telling the stories that only you can tell, because there’ll always be better writers than you and there’ll always be smarter writers than you. There will always be people who are much better at doing this or doing that, but you are the only you.

― Neil Gaiman (b. 1960) English author