::staying creative + energized::

Oh me. Oh my.

In this digital age, it is so easy to get bogged down with all the things we cannot do.  Or is that just me?  I do not naturally define myself as "creative."  I know, I know others may beg to differ.  But I know the real me.

One skill [shall we say] that I have been trying to hone is not comparing myself to others.  This can be a difficult task especially in this visual, artsy, and creative world.

I have learned that I am me.  I cannot compare myself to Suzy-Q blogger #13,879,907,097.

So what is that I do to stay creative and energized?  I have a list saved somewhere of ideas to keep creative.  That list is so helpful [especially considering the fact that I am a list girl].

However, I am not referring to that list.  These are just two things that have recently come to mind that helps me stay creative and energized.

Go to bed early.  Get up early.

I default to being a night-owl but I definitely love hitting the pillow extra early and getting up at the crack of dawn.  It's fun to see how much has been accomplished by mid-morning.

Read the paper.  Seriously.  We get the Wall Street Journal on Saturday.  I cannot believe the things I read and learned on Sunday night.

Did you know there are Jews in southern Africa?  No, seriously.  I didn't either.

I learned about the effect the drought has had on Texas and Oklahoma and the cows.  Oh, the cows.  The cows from Texas are smaller and have floppy ears compared to the cows in Iowa.  Really.

I dare not bore you with more stimulating news articles that I read.

But try picking up your local paper [mine's a bore, unless I want to find out about road closings] or a national paper.  Of course, many of the views expressed there will be biased and incorrect.  At times, though, there are some interesting topics being discussed.

What is that you do to stay creative and energized -- continually moving forward and learning?!