Gardening in High Heels

cultivate a beautiful life

Five places to get inspiration

There are so many places to get inspiration and it seems like it varies for everyone but damnit, I’m going to write about it anyway.  Today’s Blogger, May I prompt is who/what inspires you.  Here are my five favorite places to get inspiration.

Inspiration comes in different places for different people. If you need a kick of inspiration and want to try something new, here are five places to try. #BloggerMayI

Coffee shops

Okay, is this a surprise to anyone?  Seriously, answer truthfully.  I love being in coffee shops and hearing the people passing by, the espresso machine whirring, change being made, and just the general hum of the environment.  It’s so soothing to me.  It’s the perfect background noise to use when writing.  If I can’t get to a coffee shop, I like the Coffitivity app which mimics the sound of a coffee shop.

Museums

Anywhere artsy really should get lumped in here.  I always get inspired by being around other people who were inspired.  I’m a huge fan of the fun cultural things that are in Pittsburgh like the museums, the National Aviary, Phipps Conservatory, even some of the older neighborhoods in Pittsburgh are just works of architectural dreams and so beautiful.

Malls

Malls seem weird to appear here, what I’m really going for here is “place to people watch.”  I always end up seeing or experiencing something that needs to be recorded (aka: written and published on the internet until the end of time).   I’ve also gotten inspiration at gatherings (albeit a little buzzed), sporting events, restaurants, etc.

Side note: buzzed is also a good way to induce inspiration – write drunk, edit sober..y’know?

Outside

I always get the best ideas and (more importantly) the right wording when I’m running.  It also happens when I’m in the garden – what else is there to do but think?  The only challenge here is that here isn’t always something readily available to write down what you’re thinking.  Sooo many times, I’d have something beautifully phrased outside and then when I get home and can write it down it’s lost.  Ah creativity, you’re sometimes an elusive beast.

When I’m not thinking about something

Does this happen to anyone else: you focus on one thing so intently and you just can’t resolve it in your head.  And then you get started on another task, usually something mindless, and the solution to the initial problem just appears.  I always get a nice little hit of inspiration when I change gears and focus on something else.

Its also great to know when you’re most creative/productive or inspired.  The girls from Clarity on Fire recently wrote an interesting blog post about finding your “work flow” aka: when you’re the most inspired and ready to work.  It’s kind of cool!  I’m totally a morning person – my best ideas come in the morning – but sometimes I can ride on a second wave in the evening.

Where do you find your inspiration?  I want to see if I can expand my horizons!


Need the prompts for the Blogger, May I challenge?  Gotcha covered.  Want to use your own prompts?  No problem!  Just grab a button to show that you’re linking up with myself, Katy, and Meghan.  Oh, and use #BloggerMayI on Twitter/Instagram to keep the fun going even after you hit Publish!

An open invitation to let it go

This has been sitting in my drafts folder and I felt like pulling it out for some reason.  I started it about a year and a half ago.  I was feeling entirely stuck, uninspired, and unappreciated at work.  I was doing everything I could to get myself out of that hell, but I just couldn’t.

I largely blamed my current employer.  Who wants to hire me as a content manager when the company I work for can’t spell correctly?!

That said, I knew it couldn’t be all them.  It’s hard to break into the ad scene in Pittsburgh.  If I tried a little harder, maybe something better would have happened faster (I’m starting to feel like a Daft Punk track).

I’m happy to say I’m no longer with this company I’m writing about today.

So this one goes out to all of the people who have wanted to write something to their boss, a coworker, a friend, a family member and just couldn’t.  This took me two years to say.  Get out there, write something down, and let it go.

If you're looking for permission to get things off your chest and let it go, here it is! Write it down, set it free.

I have had the opportunity to work with some amazing women this year (and year’s past).   This is in no way a snub to them.  I am eternally grateful that they see someone worthwhile in me and for learning from them.  Just recently, I accepted the opportunity to intern for Yelp in Pittsburgh and it got me thinking.  I send out tons of job applications each week, but get very few chances to actually speak with the company.  Once I get to speak it someone, it’s a lot easier to explain I’m the victim of circumstance, but it’s hard to write in a cover letter, “Please don’t hold my current employer against me.”  That’s what I feel like I’m going to have to start doing.  So here is my open letter to my future employer:

I try to give people the benefit of the doubt and do what is asked of me.  In doing what is asked of me, I’m running into trouble.  I know, I majored in English and there are typos aplenty all over my current employer’s menu.  That doesn’t look good on me applying for a content creator job.  I’ve asked thousands of times to take a look at the menus before they’re printed..to no avail.

Just the other day, in fact, I said that I’d be happy to take a look and make sure the spelling was good and the alignment was right.  I was laughed at.  Literally.  I was told the menus were already printed and he wouldn’t take any of my suggestions anyway.

“I don’t care about all of that grammar stuff,” he said.  When your boss tells you they don’t care enough about how they are perceived to make sure there are no errors in a menu that tons of people see every day, what does that say?  What does that say to the customer?  What does that say ABOUT the customer?  What does that say about the COMPANY?

(And don’t get me started on the commas and the apostrophes.  I’ve tried to eradicate them when possible but if you see “pint’s” somewhere, I didn’t do that.  I’m not saying the “pint is” or the pints are possessive.  They just don’t know that to pluralize something, one simply adds an “s.”)

Same with clip art.  I tried to do something different and creative when I first got to my current position, but all of my attempts at doing something different were waved off.  I’m lucky I can just get away with some coordinating colors and matching (not cartoon-y) fonts.  (Also, I’m sorry for the Comic Sans.  That is actually trademarked.  I cannot do a thing about it).

I have a minimal aesthetic.  I like clean lines, bright color choices, and bold fonts.  These guys were shown clip art and went to town.  They like lengthy descriptions when simply a list of ingredients will do, lots of pictures, and background patterns; that just isn’t me.  At least we don’t make people wear pieces of flair and have used trombones and license plates hanging on the walls.

Then let’s move on to damage control.  Our “policies” are hard to stand behind.  Defending the servers who are consistently rude, slow, incompetent, and petulant isn’t easy to get with either.  The kitchen and the food I have absolutely nothing to do with but I’m getting tired of responding to Yelp reviews with, “I’ll review with the cook how to properly prepare that dish.”

Just because my current employer feels as if something is satisfactory doesn’t mean I do.  Their version of “complete” doesn’t reflect my version of complete.  The standards that they set forth for their company aren’t as high as the standards that I set for myself.  This is an effort to correct some of those misconceptions.  My abilities aren’t theirs, their company isn’t a reflection of what I’m capable of.  I’d do more, but I’m not able to.  I’d like to do more and keep my career positive and constantly learning.  I’ve plateaued here.  The only thing I’ve learned recently is that this job is hurting me and isn’t helping me to move onward and upward.

What’s something you’ve wanted to say but couldn’t?  Let me know in the comments and get it off your chest!

The post in which I fangirl about Britt Reints at #TEDxGrandviewAve

I went to TEDxGrandviewAve on Saturday.  The theme, Dare To Create, resonates with me, of course.  I loved hearing how people create from different backgrounds and disciplines; a computer programer is just as creative as an artist, just in a different way.  Most of all, I loved hearing Britt Reints of In Pursuit of Happiness speak.  When I purchased the tickets, I did so simply because of her promo view.  She told a story about a dog her family had when she was a kid.  This dog figured out that if he ran through the electric fence, it would only hurt for a bit, and then he would be free.  Um, doesn’t that make everyone go, “Yes, I want to run free and happy, to0”?

TEDxGrandivewAve Program

Since then, I’ve had the opportunity to talk with Britt briefly at Propelle and Creative Mornings sessions.  I have to say, I think she’s just about the coolest person ever.  Someone offering to sit down and chat about writing because of something you said a month before?  Yeah, pretty badass (and more importantly) generous.  I’m crossing the line of “I feel like I know you personally because I’ve heard you speak and read your blog and your tweets and know about your life but really we’re barely acquaintances,” so on to my point.

Britt’s talk was about creating an owner’s manual for yourself and guiding yourself to happiness through learning to trust yourself.  A big part of that trust is first to stop shoulding on yourself.  Ask yourself why you should do something and don’t do it if it’s not something that you want to do.  Listen to what you need.  And do the things that make you happy to do them.  I did it and it helped.

On Friday, I was weeding and clearing flower beds, absolutely hating it because I should be doing it.  I didn’t want to do it, but I didn’t question it either, I just did it because it needed to be done.  On Sunday, I said, “Okay, but why should I do it?”

It’s the responsible thing to do.  I want the yard to look nice.  I want the neighbors to think I’m contributing to the beauty of the neighborhood (joke’s on them, I have not inherited my mother’s green thumb or enthusiasm for gardening).

It would make me happy to accomplish this task because it will make other people happy, too.

When I stopped to think why I was doing it, I was a lot more happy to do it.  Mowing grass still sucks, sure, but it feels good to have done it.

Just that shift in my attitude made it more pleasant and I was happier to mow the grass.

Similarly, I had lunch with an old co-worker the other day and as I was lamenting how I wasn’t where I thought I should  be in life, he took his chop stick wrapper and hit me with it every time I said should.  You don’t realize it until someone smacks you each time you say it how much you say it!

I encourage everyone to check out the TEDx talks when they’re posted online and definitely spend time getting to know Britt and In Pursuit of Happiness.  Now who’s ready to stop with the shoulds?

Let’s Play

           

People Really Dug These

We Belong in the Garden Together