"I don't believe the muse visits you. I believe that you visit the muse. If you wait for that 'perfect moment' you're not going to be very productive."—Michael Lewis
Creativity arises out of habit. The creative process doesn't begin when a muse decides to visit on a whim—it begins when you make creativity a part of your daily life.
As Meklit Hadero points out, music is always already in the world around us. Similarly, Vik Muniz shows us how to make art out of things as banal as string and chocolate. To be creative, you just have to pay attention to the richness of your environment and the potential inherent in everyday things.
But it can be hard learning to pay attention. To be aware of the potential around you and your own ability to draw new creations out of your surroundings, you have to begin developing habits of creativity.
According to Mason Currey's collected profiles of famous artists' daily routines and the Harvard Business Review's article on how to find inspiration, the following are some beginning steps towards forming a routine of creativity.
Waking up early, enjoying a sun rise, and paying attention to the potentials of things that already exist in the world
Drinking coffee, like Beethoven, Kierkegaard, and the guy who wrote The Wizard of Oz (but maybe not like Balzac)
Taking time alone, going strolling outside, and letting your mind wander where it will
Looking at others' work, letting their art inspire your own creative process
Works Cited
Currey, Mason. Daily Routines, http://dailyroutines.typepad.com. Accessed 6 Feb. 2017.
Hadero, Meklit. "The unexpected beauty of everyday sounds." TED. August 2015.
Muniz, Vik. "Art with wire, sugar, chocolate and string" TED. Feb. 2003.
Rock, David and Josh Davis. "4 Steps to Having More 'Aha' Moments." Harvard Business Review, https://hbr.org/2016/10/4-steps-to-having-more-aha-moments. Accessed 6 Feb. 2017.