For 2010 – 10 Unusual Places To Get Inspired For The New Year

As my peers get older the more I hear them say the same words at this time of year. People often comment on how fast the year has passed. I don’t think that this kind of speedy time passing has anything to do with having a good time. I believe it has more to do with not taking the time to absorb and all the wonderful trials and tribulations of life.

So many things happen at such a fast rate that we almost can’t keep up. That’s why it’s good to make a note of events and achievements over the last year. If you intend to make resolutions then I believe they require two key ingredients to work:

1. To know where you were so that you know how far you’ve come already.

2. I believe it’s of utmost importance that the goals inspire you and fill you with excitement and passion. If it doesn’t it will fail and there will be very little you can do about that.

But lets forget resolutions ‘coz everyone’s talking about them and I like to be different! 😛 If it’s inspired though that you’d like to be, then here’s my list of the 10 best places to receive that inspiration.

Lets do a countdown…

10. The Toilet

Oh come on, you knew that was going to be in the list somewhere! 😆 I know that we all have the amazing streams of inspiration that have hit us when we’ve been passing motions. It’s uncanny that ejecting that waste seems to make some sort of space for new ideas to enter the mind and body! Maybe it’s one of Gods practical jokes…ha ha very funny big man!

9. Go Somewhere Wet

There’s something so soothing about staring and listening to water. There’s an app you can get for smartphones called White Noise that you can use to generate various sounds to sooth your mood or fall asleep to. There are a few water options; there’s the trickling stream or the lapping of the ocean. Both give you the impression that you’re near some sort wet body. Or just get off that butt and go take a walk by a river…now there’s a thought! Here’s a song that will get you thinking while you’re there.

8. Staring At Indian Traffic

Ok, bear with me on this one! While I was India recently I was on a balcony staring at the traffic. There’s nothing quite like watching people, bikes, mopeds, rikshaws, cars and trucks all jostling for space on the bumpy roads and not using any sort of discernable traffic system that one can ascertain. They just all go for it! There’s something just so incredibly hypnotic about it. I’ve just uploaded a quick 30 second capture I got from my trip.

7. Playing Poker

I’ve had some pretty profound revelations whilst playing poker. Both winning and losing are great teachers and I think the reason poker is so popular these days is that because it is such a powerful representation of life. There’s an excerpt from the poem ‘If’ by Rudyard Kipling that is along the same lines: –

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;

6. In The Shower

Have you ever been in the shower and got water to the exact temperature that you like, so much so, that you almost don’t want to get out? It puts you into such a relaxed state that when you finish you feel like you’re ready to take on the world. It’s easy to get carried away in that feeling so just remember to put your clothes back on afterwards! 😉

5. Taking A Walk…On The Wild Side

Going for a walk in nature and observing how animals behave always gets me thinking. I’m sure you’ve all stopped to watch that squirrel as it was scurrying around search for it’s nuts. I was at a wildlife park recently with lions and tigers and in particular there were these two baby white tigers there just playing and having hours of fun with a ball. I could happily stand there and watch them for hours. At one point I was even contemplating catnapping them! So cute!

4. Sipping On Some Darjeerling Or Espresso In An Uptown Cafe

I can’t really work at home. It’s not just the distractions but I just find that when I know I have things to do that are there that I have to do them. I much prefer to go to a cafe, order my soya hot chocolate, switch on my laptop and get writing! I enjoy people watching and sometimes that gets my creative juices flowing and it sparks an idea or some thought that leads to my next blog post! There’s always something going on. I just find it exciting to be there.

3. Listening To Music

I’ll be following up on this with some deeper insights in the new year but for me, music gets me inspired. Various types of music seem to give me that zing and get new ideas coming to me. In particular, pop music, both contemporary and ol’ skool give me a buzz that always get me jazzed up for the tasks ahead, or when I’m out running. Don’t get too carried away though, just a couple of months ago I was on the tube and on my iPhone this song came on and I just had to shake my booty. Everyone was watching…but I didn’t care! 😛

2. Stargazing

About 10 years ago I just decided to go camping by myself one day. I drove to the campsite and when I arrived it was dark and it wasn’t going to be easy to get the tent up. It was such a beautiful night that I decided not to bother putting the tent up and I just decided to sit on the hood of my car and stargaze. I fell asleep there and woke up in the morning. To this day it’s one of my favorite things I’ve ever done. Staring at the stars just always somehow puts things into perspective.

1. Driving

Driving has got to be the place where I receive my biggest and best inspirations and ideas! Driving is a recreational thing to me. I get so many ideas whilst in my driving trance that I sometimes don’t get a chance to write them all down and I often forget them by the time I arrive at my destination! 😛 That’s beside the point though. If I’m ever constipated for ideas then I jump in my old banger BMW and go for an midnight exploration!

What unusual places or activities get you inspired? Happy new year everyone and have an amazing 2010!