The unexpected practice that will help you sustain your creative life…

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Every day we wake up, have breakfast, coffee, or both. Then a while later we have lunch, or a snack. And in the evening, it's dinner time... It's the routine; it's what we do every day.

You might look at that general schedule and think, "Well, I skip breakfast..." Or, "I don't really do lunch like that..." And that's cool; we're all different. I'm not saying this should be your schedule. I'm just establishing that all of us spend some portion of our day feeding the body.

I don't know about you, but I can feel the difference when I've eaten good, nourishing food and been properly hydrated. There is a real connection between these things. And I know from experience that if I want to put out good things, I need to put in good things...

The creative force that lives inside us also needs nourishment. And like the body, we must feed it wonderful things, so it can output wonderful things.

I realized today that I've been doing this creative nourishment for so long, this nurturing of the inner-creative, that I barely notice I'm doing it. I look through a storefront window and see an odd little toy built from springs, so I go inside and hold it, watch it, and let my mind bathe in its quirky little jerks and bobs. Then a coffee table book of nature photographs catches my eye, and I flip through. Then I continue down the street and find a concrete bus bench that's all cracked up. I decide it's probably been hit by a car, because the large slabs are teetering at unnatural angles, held from tumbling by the steel rebar running through the insides. This postmodern mess has been carefully isolated by bright orange cones, and the whole wrapped round in yellow caution tape. As I stand on the street looking at it, I can't help but think it would fit perfectly, exactly as it is, in a modern art museum. Though I'd be perplexed at the choice of its inclusion were I to find it in such a setting. I walk away wondering, as I have so often in recent years, what is art...

 Then, I hear the city center is interesting to walk, and there's a botanical garden that's free to the public, and a natural history museum... And I want to experience them all...

So I go… At the botanical garden, there's a group of photographers with long lenses. They're trying to shoot a hummingbird as it flits from flower to flower. I watch them, standing motionless, finger at the ready, waiting for the magic moment to appear before them. I briefly wish I had my nice camera too, but quickly remember that I have my iPhone. Not the same, but it's plenty good for practicing composition. I decide that I'll look for magical moments as I walk. The just right place, where the just right angle lets me immortalize the just right moment...

 So I did just that, and if you scroll through the photos above, you'll experience these moments just as they appeared to me. Taking what I found to feed my creativity, and using it to feed yours...

 Composition, the "eye", noticing, curiosity, lines, angles, balance, weight, color, scent, sound, even the feel of the cool breeze across your face... Everything you see, experience, and feel will feed you, all quietly contributing to your output. 

That's what really stood out ot me this weekend. How crucial it is to feed the inner-creative, just as we feed the body. To make this an automatic process, a thing we do without thinking…