On creating: inputs and outputs

On creating: inputs and outputs

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• 3.26.2012

I've had this post in draft for a while, but just recently I heard this interview on NPR and it got me thinking again.  The interview is more about finding the muse, but definitely corresponds with my general feelings that you'll read in this post--finding the balance between work and relaxing, and having that relaxing time as fuel for creativity and productivity!

Sometimes when I haven't been sewing up a storm the the previous days or weeks, I just get an aching to make something ambitious and awesome!  (Which usually results in me cutting out a dress.  They really are my favorite kind of project.)  But, do you know what I mean about that feeling?  The urge to create, to make something new rather than scroll through Pinterest again or look around the house at old (existing) things.

Via my Instagram... getting ready to cut!

When I was a kid my mom taught me her philosophy about being a producer versus being a consumer. When I would watch hours of One Saturday Morning or play my Purple Moon girl-focused 90's computer games, I was consuming materials someone else had created. And that's fine, for a while; we all need to do that sometimes to recharge. But when I did an art project or even when I went to ballet class or day camps during the summer, I was generating something new--producing, art or dance or crafty macaroni frames. And it's nice to have a balance, my mom would argue. Being a very creative person herself (she's created an amazing small business!), she felt unbalanced when she consumed too much and didn't use any of that recharged energy as drive to generate something new.

This metaphor can only go so far, I know; I'm not advocating against bettering yourself with literature or wine tasting or anything, although you could argue that those are productive activities too because in addition to consuming something good, you're building your tastes and mind. BUT, my point is, I have as a personal value that making something original is an accomplishment. (If you couldn't tell. I have 697 published blog posts and most of them are original writing about something I made or changed--and I keep this blog everyday! I'm not telling you anything new, am I? ;) )

So, sometimes its hard for me to sit down with my magazines and consume for a while. I think, "Shouldn't I be using this free time for something more productive?"  But it's important to refresh my mind, my idea-builder, with new inputs to inspire and inform. I always come out of reading my monthly little stack of magazines or linking through Pinterest totally inspired!! (I tear out pages and make note to emulate my fave pieces they promote--I never go out and buy the $300 Rebecca Beeson dress or the $100 color block top, but I get excited to make my own!)

Don't you?

Source: thebudgetbabe.com via Suzannah on Pinterest

So my statement today is, find those things that inspire you--maybe it's Pinterest, or InStyle, or going to the mall and looking at the newest pretty things, or even going to a nature park or people-watching at a coffee shop or something, gosh, I dunno! Whatever it is that makes you come home all jazzed and excited for your next project. Because we can't just go on like little factories, making, making, making. That balance is important for your sanity and, probably, for the quality of your work!

What do you think? Do you know how I feel? Hey, and what are your favorite places for sewing and clothing inspiration??