This Bold Life and I have this on again, off again relationship. I had set a goal of 2 blog posts per week for you guys months back. Consistent information, updates, and experiences shared with you. However, the really good stuff only comes sporadically. That’s what it’s like to be a writer. I must write when the words start flowing.
Like writing, sometimes inspiration is hard to find.
But when you find it, it’s quite magical.
Inspiration isn’t, ‘oh, what a pretty dress,’ or ‘this is beautiful, I love this.’ Inspiration is moving. Literally. Really good inspiration gets your gears working, clicking into place, and suddenly, you’re up and replying, feeding off that inspiration.
Inspiration comes from another human’s boldness, courage, determination, hard work, and beautiful results and realizations. Inspiration is when you are a photographer who instills confidence in your subjects every day and, upon braving out the commitment to being the one in front of the camera, realize something deep, realizing, “That’s me, that’s beautiful, I’m beautiful!” (Read about Dana Kae’s profound, beautiful experience here). Inspiration is health and joy, like a woman staying fit for 22 years, not in it for the results, but for the wonderful feeling of being healthy. (This is Laura’s lifestyle, who shares her journey here).
These days, my main form of inspiration is through social media. There are so many stories to be shared and heard. If you know where to look, the options are endless. In my search for inspiration, here are just a few of my finds.
Social Media
- Facebook: Obviously, everyone is on facebook. I’ve literally unliked all the “meme” pages to eliminate them from my newsfeed and I’ve begun filling up my “likes” with inspirational pages. For fitness one page I recommend is Fitness World. For photography, ArtPics is a good place for artistic stuff, as well as your favorite photographers, models, etc. I personally think Up&Die is also a fantastic page to follow, related to fashion and photography.
- Instagram: I have found, through my own Instagram experiences, there are a lot of fitness nuts you can follow. A lot of people like to post about their progress and fitness. Since running across both @misstambam82 and @cttchickentuna today, I’ve decided to focus less on the results and more on the health, more so than ever. I found out @cttchickentuna, aka, Laura from the story above, has been keeping up with the fitness for 22 years upon visiting her Tumblr. That’s inspiration.
- Tumblr: I know almost literally nothing about Tumblr, sorry! However, I do have some fantastic pages I glance at sometimes. apostrophe 9 and Fashion Faves are some pages I go to when looking for fashionable inspiration for a photoshoot.
- Pintrest: I go to pintrest for food! (And some fashion). But mostly food! My goal here is to pin a bunch of great, healthy, yummy recipes and cook them all! I’m addicted to endless foodie scrolling.
Travel
While I haven’t done a ton of traveling myself, I hear it does great things for you.
Bored with your city? Maybe it’s time to take a break and go somewhere intriguing. A talented photographer friend of mine goes to Haiti for humanitarian work, he told me, which gives him a sense of clarity and purpose.
Go for a walk, meditate in the park, see something new. New York is perfect for all that, which I do occasionally, in regards to seeing someplace new. The computer can only take you so far. I know some of us live on the internet. I know I spend too much time with technology, but I balance it out with exercise, socialization, and work.
Get out and do something you love. Bowling, biking, walking, swimming, skiing. If you like to read, jump on the bus/train/whatever to the park and read or write. Go to the library. Not everyone is made of money and can travel to Puerto Rico, Hawaii, Europe, etc, but just get out of the house. Even if it’s raining. Embrace the weather and admire it.
Discuss
Stay in touch with old friends. Set goals that include your friends. Bounce ideas off each other. Get out and do stuff with others. Learning more about the people around you help you learn more about yourself.
I find having others around, especially participating in the same things I’m doing, is really helpful and motivating. For example, around the beginning of April, my good friend and I began an exercising routine together and have been sticking with it and motivating each other for a whole two months now! We eat healthier and cleaner together and it helps to have someone to motivate and be motivated by. It also helps that we live together and he’s my roommate! Ha! We make each other get off the couch if we haven’t exercised yet and the other begrudgingly complies.
Feed off each other’s energy as you’re planning a shoot. Have an intellectual conversation about a topic that interests you. Go out for coffee and talk. Share your experiences and journeys with your friends and let that become a discussion.
Remember to keep things fresh and seek out new ideas. Most of the time, inspiration finds me. That’s how it happens. But by following these little key areas, I think it’s more likely to find you.
Be Fierce!!
Briauna Mariah (:
P.S I’m challenging myself this month! I set a goal of running 100 miles between now, June 2nd and July 1st. Let me know if you want to participate with me! Let’s do it together!