Inspiration is a place.
I have had such a busy few months, especially during the summer. I have been enjoying it immensely but it has also been very eye opening. To give a run down of my timeline, I will tell you what I have been up to.
From June I spent one month in South Korea, more specifically Seoul, my second home. I adore Seoul, with its beautiful skyscrapers sandwiched between historical pagodas and tower blocks. Korean language etched on the side of buildings. Convenience stores bustling with high schoolers as they purchase an array of snacks and stand in the back to eat them. Beauty stores lining every subway underground mall. People darting busily around dressed to the nines. I feel like a large part of my heart lives there and therefore I love that place. I spent a great time working from home. In my spare time I went out with old friends from university in the UK and China. I wandered around some of my favourite museums and galleries and stuffed myself with so much food. Korea also brings out my desire to expend my pent up energy and I love doing activities that are tried and true favourites as well as things I have never done before. One new skill I picked up this summer was indoor climbing. It is a hot trend at the moment in Korea and I absolutely love doing it.
After Korea I returned home to the UK in time for the hottest temperatures on record. I roasted while sitting on the central line in 40 degree heat. Went to see an Agatha Christie play and took in art at some of my favourite galleries and had many dinners and lunches with good friends of mine. A friend of mine was visiting from Japan and we enjoyed discovering new spots that had opened up around town as well as old favourite spots, like our karaoke spot in central London’s China town.
I had to rush back to Italy after two weeks at home to welcome a friend to Italy. Together we explored Tremosine, a part of garda lake all but inaccessible without a car. Days were spent lazily lying by the pool drinking beer and wandering into Limone sul garda to the touristy shops, and walking along the beautiful lake.
After my friend went home I took the train up to Austria to Innsbruck, which is a beautiful tiny town full of delicious foods, amazing scenery and even better, full of history! I adored gorging myself on thick tasty bread and eating Tyrolean snacks washed down by tasty beer, wandering through nature and looks at wonderful castles with exquisite decor. Then, at the end of the month I was back in the UK again visiting Manchester in the North, one of my favourite places in the UK for how bustling and hip it is, and, I took a trip Sheffield, the city where I attended university visiting all of my favourite old haunts. That was tremendously special because I hadn’t visited Sheffield since the day of my graduation in July 2014.
Since then I have been back in Italy working and spending time between home, Milan and Venice.
The thing that struck me the most during these travels however, is the fact that in each of these destinations I found myself desperate to write. I had so much to say and I wanted to open up my laptop or grab a pen and write about what I was seeing around me, observations, sights, what I was eating, what I was thinking and I had tons of ideas for content bubbling up constantly.
The biggest question I found myself asking however is, why do I only feel inspiration in particular places. Why is it that I need to be at home in the UK or surrounded by nightlife and dreamers in Seoul in order to feel at my A game. I am in the middle of a creativity draught. I’ll even admit it took me almost 3 months to sit down and write this post in fact. All I can deduce is that inspiration comes in many forms and one of them happens to be the environment you are in. If you environment does not foster growth and enlightenment you too may feel stuck.
Now I know this, I am on a mission to force myself out of my comfort zone to see what will happen next. What will I think, or feel, or do? All I know is that I have to keep moving to find the places that speak to the creativity inside of me. I recommend you do too.
