Between Summer and Fall the days spin together in a big blur. A comfortable routine is tightly rooted in my daily life. A pattern of working and doing what needs to get done. So much so that I won't realize it happening. I love to be at home, I love my coffee shop and my favorite spot on the river.
Then I travel.
Those roots are pulled up and I have to carry them to a brand new area or a space I have not visited in years. Even when I get home tired and groggy, something gets refreshed inside. Like I have new pair of eyes when I get home.
If you are in creative in a rut, I would suggest visiting someplace different. You do not have to travel to another country necessarily, an hour will do. Go see your aunt who lives in the state over and stay for the weekend. Drive to a new area just for the day, pull up those roots. When you get back, things that you have become used to seeing, you’ll see again.
I picture it as being nose blind (like those commercials) to my daily life. After I get home, I suddenly appreciate the way the mountain looks on my drive home. I might rearrange a room (I do it every time) or get organized. My creative side is refreshed and re-challenged.
As a photographer, creating in a landscape different to the one I am used to is enough. I get too used to the greens of the forest, the areas I often visit to shoot. It becomes repetitive, the same old same old. The coast is a whole new playing field, I have to think and shoot differently than I normally do back home. This is what I'm talking about, being challenged!
It is so easy for us to get comfortable, to get used to things. Honest to goodness I know I won’t be someone who drops everything to be a traveling nomad. I appreciate what traveling can teach and how it can refresh the creative soul in a rare way. Traveling for me revitalizes motivation lost to a daily routine. I come back a different person, even in tiny ways. I really hope you go off on your own adventure this weekend!
My dress: The Alice from Virginia Dare Dress Co