My Biggest Inspiration? Creative Conversations
I’m forever inspired by creative conversations. Connecting with fellow creatives, bloggers, and the people in my life who know the joy of pursuing creative endeavours is something I wouldn’t give up for the world. Even for the most introverted of souls like myself, opening myself up to others and openly sharing who we are, the ideas behind our work, and the highs and lows of our creative journeys always leaves me feeling inspired, supported, and motivated along the way.
Last week I spoke about Creative Collaboration in-depth, and today I wanted to turn my attention to creative conversations and encourage you to make time for them too. Finding creative connections isn’t always easy though, so I’m sharing three different ways I pursue them throughout the week and some ways you can too.
In Person Face to face is probably my favourite way to connect with others, but depending on your location and the people you’re surrounded by it may not be all that easy for you. I’m super lucky in that I live with my other half who is also a creative, and all of my closest friends in real life are also creatives in one way or another. This means my weeks are never short of inspiring conversations, sharing what we’ve been up to, the obstacles we’re overcoming, and the areas where we need a little insight and encouragement. Over the past two years of blogging I’ve also been lucky enough to make some friends who have become some of my closest and weekly coffee dates with Grace and regular working days with my partner in crime Rebecca never fail to feed me up with creative inspiration.
Don’t be afraid to be a little brave and reach out and connect in-person with the people around you. That blogger you’ve been connecting with on Twitter who you know lives in the same city? Drop them an email and see if they’d like to meet up for coffee. Worst they can say is no, but chances are they’ll probably love the opportunity to connect too. Have a close friend who is also pursuing creative endeavours? Put fortnightly mastermind sessions in your diaries where you make the time to bounce off ideas and support each other along the way.
Connecting Online The internet is an awesome place to connect with likeminded people and engage in creative conversations. From our comments sections, to our inboxes and social media, there are so many opportunities to connect. As I’m way more comfortable one-on-one, email correspondence or Skype sessions are usually my favourite, because thanks to the internet if there’s an ocean between you it doesn’t mean you can’t connect.
If you want to open yourself up to a wider community, joining Facebook or Google+ communities are great ways to find awesome likeminded people. Twitter chats, the comments section of your blog, and of course direct messages and emails means that creative conversations are just a few clicks away. So many people ask me: how do I meet likeminded people online and make creative connections? My best advice is to be brave and make the first move. Be authentic, don’t pursue connections just in the hopes of personal gain, and let a friendship grow over time without putting any pressure on it to be anything more than it will be. You’ll naturally be drawn to the right people for you, and in my experience so far there’s something to be said for quality over quantity. One genuine creative connection is worth way more than 20 acquaintances who you just don’t connect with on a deeper level.
Podcasts This may sound silly, but hear me out on this one. By now you probably have already guessed my love for podcasts, I’ve shared 10 Awesome Podcast Episodes You Should Listen To, and Five Of My Favourite Podcast Shows in the past. Listening to the creative conversations of others is also a huge inspiration for me, and every week I’m always tuning in to my favourite podcast shows full of insightful interviews, conversations, and ideas. The Lively Show, Elise Joy, Being Boss, Creating Your Own Path, and 10,000 Hours are some of my favourites for weekly creative conversations to consume.
How about you? Where do you find creative conversations?
p.s listen to this Elise Joy podcast episode on Building A Community Offline
DID YOU ENJOY THIS POST? JOIN THE JENNYPURR MAILING LIST TO RECEIVE WEEKLY LETTERS FOR BLOGGERS & CREATIVES STRAIGHT TO YOUR INBOX EVERY SUNDAY
This months Spotlight Advertiser
Seven of this months sidebar advertisers