7 Tips to Get Creative
If you feel like it you are in a rut lately, and do not feel inspired to make soap but want to or need to. Here are some of my ideas to help you get your groove back!
1. First, consider whether you need to take a break or not.
Sometimes we do need to step back and do other things, other activities to be able to come back to soap making with a refreshed mind and attitude. This is also true if you do not feel well, sometimes our inspiration is not gone, we are just tired or sick or have a hormonal imbalance! So do not feel guilty if you choose to take a nap instead.
2. Secondly, consider your motives and give yourself a pep talk.
Do you “have to” make soap? Or do you “want to”? If you sell your soap, perhaps you have a show coming up and know you need to raise up your inventory. When we do things out of obligation, it just does not feel the same as when we do them out of inspiration. This is when reminding ourselves of our goals and dreams comes handy. I do face painting on the side, and sometimes I have two events booked for the same day (since most events are on weekends only). Sometimes a sense of dread comes over me, a desire to stay home instead. Then is when I tell myself: “Look, you love face painting. It is more fun than translating documents (or being at the office), besides you are going to a party. And, you are going to get paid, so you will have extra money for soap supplies”. Or in the busy seasons (spring and fall), I tell myself: “Listen, this is what you wanted, later when the summer comes, you will wish you get bookings, be thankful.” So talk to yourself about your goals, the reason why you got into soaping, the alternatives.
3. Thirdly, Get moving.
Start a soap project even if you do not feel like it. Usually as you go through the motions, your emotion comes back!
Go to your soap idea book and tackle one of them. Oh, you do not have one? Starting one is easy. Mine is not a book per se, it is a note in my phone that looks like this:
Sometimes I list the soap idea as text only, most often I like to add a sketch. But I have also added pictures I have taken of a magazine or such. Be careful, do not try to brainstorm and come up with a bunch ideas at once. Just add the ideas as they come to you, from “inspiration”. Otherwise it can feel like a “to do” list, rather than a fun idea list.
As I complete them, I delete them from my notes, and I have deleted some I no longer felt like doing too.
4. Finally, know yourself and inspire accordingly
I am an introvert, which means I get refreshed by spending time alone, and it becomes draining to be with others for a long period of time. Extroverts need the company of others to feel recharged though. So spend some time with yourself or others depending which type you are.
In the book Quiet, Susan Cain tells about an experiment done with newborns, to determine if personality types were formed through experience or were innate. The newborns were exposed to new experiences, such as sounds, textures or smells. Like the smell of a cotton ball with alcohol, for example. There was a group that was chill with the textures and sounds, they did not react much. While another group got excited: hands were raised, feet would move, heads moved, sounds were made. When I heard that I thought: “oh, those are the extroverts.” But it was the opposite. The babies that overreacted turned out to be introverts as they grew up. It helped me understand why I become uneasy easily (pardon the pun). Or why I get excited with the smallest of things. Maybe this also explains why some extroverts enjoy extreme adrenaline rushing experiences.
All that to say, get to know yourself and what works for you. Do you remember what got you inspired in the past? What is the common thread? Knowing what inspired you in the past will help you be purposeful about it in the future.
I have a long commute, so I listen to audiobooks during it. Sometimes I get inspiration or ideas from a phrase from the book, or from something I saw while driving. Many times just from a picture I have seen, often by the fragrance I have chosen.
5. It is ok to borrow ideas or inspiration
A word of caution, I do not mean for us to blatantly copy another artist’s work. I mean to borrow ideas from an artist whose work has become part of the public domain. For example, most fairy tales are in the public domain. I am actually planning several for the future. However we must be careful to be inspired by the original source, the original story. And not by an adaptation of it, such as Disney movies, which are copyrighted.
Did you know you can borrow inspiration? By watching someone who is inspired and working on a project. I had a house project to do, which I was determined to do when we first purchased our home last year. It was to stain the kitchen cabinets a darker tone and put handles on doors and drawers. I bought all the supplies but did not feel like doing it for a year. There were many things that seemed more appealing to do, so I left this project lag behind. When I decided enough was enough, I still did not feel like doing it. So I started watching home improvement videos, home decoration videos, home building shows, etc. I found that watching videos and tv shows on the subject, helped me get in a “home renovation” mood. To the point I got new project ideas for the house that I added to my list. There are so many soap makers in YouTube, I am sure you can find more than one you will enjoy watching.
6. Exercise
I learned this in a youtube video linked here. I encourage you to watch it. It is a TED talk by a neuroscientist, in short, if you work out, your brain gets smarter and more creative. The endorphines that come from exercise literally get your creative juices flowing.
7. Get Bored
I know, It sounds counterproductive, but in this other video, which I found fascinating, this lady explains how our brain uses those “boredom” moments to rebuild itself. Instead of having a distraction all the time (like our phones, the TV, etc) if we do our mundane tasks in silence (dish washing, for example) it actually makes us more creative. Interesting, huh?
I hope this helped you! Would love to hear about it if it did, or if you have more ideas!
Soaps by Glenda 