Friday, January 6, 2012

On inspiration

I've been thinking a lot about inspiration—where it comes from, what it means, and why a particular idea or act can cause such a knee jerk reaction of "I've got to get in on that!"

Here is the original post I was going to share with you today. It's called "Things I've done and made that I love"

NAILS:
I am notoriously bad at painting my nails, but I've been practicing this whole nail art thing and getting a lot better. I like to think of these as like part of a Grace Hartigan painting. 



EYES:
Now I know she didn't make it up herself, but I've been learning so much from FASHION's Paige Dzenis about how to apply makeup, including my new favourite style—the kitten flick. I always feel self-conscious about wearing my regular heavy eye makeup in the morning, but, as you can see, this style is pretty understated when your eyes are open, and just a little retro. 




ACCESSORIES:
After reading a hundred and one DIY collar tutorials, I finally got around to making my own. The collar's from an old thrifted shirt that I was never going to wear, and I got these round studs a few years ago. I always feel silly when a project I've been meaning to do for months takes me about five minutes to complete. 





As I was putting these pics and captions together, I was reading this NYTimes article called "The Joy of Quiet." I'm a sucker for anything that toutes the idea of a simpler life, so I dropped everything to read about what I thought would be the benefits of having some quiet time. And it was about that, but it also touched on a more important idea, about the "urgency of slowing down" and unplugging.

 "I read an interview with the perennially cutting-edge designer Philippe Starck. What allowed him to remain so consistently ahead of the curve? 'I never read any magazines or watch TV,' he said, perhaps a little hyperbolically. 'Nor do I go to cocktail parties, dinners or anything like that.' He lived outside conventional ideas, he implied, because 'I live alone mostly, in the middle of nowhere.'

I often find myself wondering when the last time was that I had an original thought or idea. I feel inspired a lot (I'm feeling inspired by this article, even!). As a blogger, copyeditor, editor, writer, and avid Google Reader user, I am constantly on top of news in the worlds of fashion, food, and literature. I'm inundated with great ideas coming from smart, creative people—so much so that perhaps it's a detriment to my own creativity.

It's arguable, I've heard it said many times, that there are no new ideas, and that everything has been done before. And being inspired by people is a way to open your mind to new thoughts and experiences, which is, obviously, invaluable. But what can happen if you aren't following anyone else's rules? Is being outside the influence of others a way to push to envelope and create new and exciting content? Or do you have to be plugged in in order to see what direction media is headed?

I've got no answers here, only more questions, which—if you get drunk with me anytime in the near future—will be a major topic of conversation. I'll be doing a lot more thinking about this, and I promise that us Burgundy Girls will keep our content as creative as our busy schedules permit. 

Do you have any thoughts about all this stuff? Inspire me! 


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