The 6 things that are keeping me inspired right now
It’s hard to stay inspired. I’m working on a book about our trip (it’s going to be more of a how-to guide and less of a memoir) but I promised myself I wouldn’t give in to the old cliche and complain about how hard it is to write. So that’s why I’m saying that it’s hard to stay inspired. When working out of your own head, it’s such a challenge to stay focused. How do you keep the positive voices from being drowned out by the negative voices? How do you deal with all the distractions like BuzzFeed, snow, dirty floors, cooking, general laziness, daydreams?
Here are the 6 things that are keeping me inspired:
- David Wong’s 6 Harsh Truths That Will Make You a Better Person on Cracked.com. This kind of tough-love advice doesn’t always do it for me, but for some reason this article provided the resonating kick in the ass I needed. I plan to print this out and re-read it every few days until it becomes a part of my brain.
- Two movies: Waste Land, about garbage and art and humanity by Brazilian artist Vik Muniz, and Herb & Dorothy, about a modest couple and the wide-reaching impact they had on the NY art world. Both are not-so-subtle reminders that every person has the potential to make the world a better (or worse) place for others.
- Colin Nissan’s The Ultimate Guide to Writing Better Than You Normally Do on McSweeneys.net. In a few paragraphs, he manages to convey the essence of every how-to-write-a-book book and, bonus, it’s pretty funny.
- Life Remotely, a blog written by three travelers who are in the process of driving from Seattle to the tip of South America. This site keeps me dreaming big and reminds me what it’s like to escape (without being distracted by overwhelming envy, because they just seem like good people … and because of traveler’s diarrhea).
- Neighbors. After receiving over a foot of snow the other night, our neighbors wheeled their snow-blower across the road and cleared our driveway. Maybe I’ve never been the recipient of unsolicited acts of kindness from strangers before (we haven’t met them yet, they’re still strangers). I just can’t get over how nice this was.
- I’m thrilled that the construction on our apartment is finally finished…just in time for almost two feet of snow to fall!
How do you stay inspired and motivated? Leave a comment, but don’t leave too many links. They’re too distracting.