I know why you're always chasing inspiration

I’m just going to be honest: For weeks, I’ve been feeling uninspired.

If you’ve ever gone through a period of creative draught - maybe you are right now - you know exactly what I’m talking about. There’s this low-grade frustration that lurks behind every thought.

Nothing quite lands the way it’s supposed to - it doesn’t feel good enough, interesting enough or cool enough. So, back on the hamster wheel you go, waiting to feel that spark of momentum again.

Even as a Creative Health Scientist, I often accept these periods of being uninspired as a natural part of living a creative life. I know it will come back…some day.

But this time, something kept nagging at me. I tried all the typical interventions that I’ve studied to spark creativity: Taking a break and “doing nothing.” Creating, even when I don’t feel like it. And consuming ideas - a lot of ideas - to try and expand my own.

None of it worked.

So, I went back to the scientific drawing board and got deeply curious: What does the research actually tell us about inspiration, anyway? What impact does it have on our Creative Health? And, are there levers we can pull to feel it more often?

Let me tell you: Everything I thought I knew about inspiration was wrong. And, I bet this one nuance I discovered in the scientific research will break open everything for you.

It did for me.

CreativeRx is your dose of creative thinking - no matter if you’re an artist or not. Every week Creative Health Scientist, Katina Bajaj, shares how to incorporate our most essential survival skills - play, wonder and critical thinking - into everyday life.