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These are uplifting as well as inpsirational. 12 videos from Vimeo to blow on your creative spark.

Here we go, hold on tight

Just when I thought I could concentrate on getting some work done. Along comes this wonderful online sequencer. It feels like I’m back in the 80s, albeit via a flash interface and firefox.

Plug and play and have lots of fun

Audiotool

If this list from smashing magazine isn’t the ultimate writer’s directory, then it comes pretty close. From grammar to spelling, headlines to word rhymes, this list has it all. But don’t take my word for it.

50 free resources that will improve your writing skills

Found this wonderful video by Terry Timely via the equally wonderful SynthGear.

Just the thing to get the creative juices folling on a Monday, or any day in fact.

Well, you’re not the only one. I’m having a creatively barren day so far. I wonder if it is anything to with my imagaintion being slightly limited?

Imagination Cartoon | Savage Chickens – Cartoons on Sticky Notes by Doug Savage

You have deadlines. You have pressure at home. The world is on the brink of disaster. Everything is piling the pressure on you. You need to perform, but your creative urge just won’t rise to the occasion.

I’ve been feeling a little like this recently, with all of the above coming into play at some point. But to be honest they are always part of our life. There aren’t any days when these and other distractions aren’t fighting for a bit of our creative thought.

Some days however, they seem closer than others and we need to know how to deal with them. If we don’t, we’ll end up missing those deadlines, neglecting the home and becoming paranoid at everything beyond the front door. And that is before we realise that the blog hasn’t been updated for a while.

Overwhelmed
The biggest danger is that we become overwhelmed. Everything gangs up on us and we collapse under the pressure. What moments before was a pile of things to do and think about, is now a mountain that is beyond our climbing skills. There are three ways to deal with this:

1. Throw everything in the bin. For some people this is the best option. Anything that is on your mind, simply ditch it, emails, tweets, RSS feeds, lists, and so on. If anything that you had on your mind was important it will surface again. Important deadlines, emails that need responding to, will all resurface. Then when they do, you can put them into your system and deal with them.
2. Throw everything on a list. For those who aren’t as brave (or as those who prefer this solution would say, reckless), there is the list. Instead of picking up everything and throwing it away, you can throw it on a list. Out of your head, and away from distracting your creativity, is what you want to achieve. Adding everything to a list does exactly that, and you won’t have to worry about losing anything. Once everything is on the list, you can go through it at your own pace.
3. Throw yourself away. Instead of getting rid of all the stuff, why not get rid of yourself. Or more accurately, remove yourself for a while to recharge. The things will still be there when you get back, but if you can give yourself permission to take a break, you’ll be in a better state to deal with them.

Control
All of the above can deal with the feeling of being overwhelmed. They all take different approaches but they all work for the same reason. When we feel overwhelmed we feel powerless and helpless. These feelings leave us unable to do anything. The above all give us back our power. They are ways of us taking control of the situation and dealing with it, and that is what is needed.

So the next time you feel overwhelmed and it begins to affect your creative output, decide what is going to be thrown.

Most of us fall into one of two creative types, we either

• have 500 creative ideas before the first cup of coffee slides down our throat
• have one creative idea that is the best thing since the sliced bread we are about to toast

Either way, those ideas need to be captured and developed.

We may work with others and so a quick email or tweet to one of our creative collaborators may be the next thing to do. Alternatively, we may have captured the idea on a piece of paper to work on when we have a chance.

The next step for us is to develop the idea to something more than a thought or jot on paper. Quite often the creative juices will be flowing at this time and so you want to crack on with developing your idea. Unfortunately this is where a lot of energy is misspent.

We can end up putting so much effort into getting ready to develop our idea that our creative energy is all used up. But with a little preparation we can save a lot of time.

Preparing our creative space and tools is one way to focus the energy we have into the creative act and not waste it.

I dabble in recording music and I use Cubase. This is a great multi-track digital recorder. However, if I have an idea and launch the program, it can take me a while to get to point of doing anything creative. Therefore I have set up some templates in the program. These templates are ready to record straight into. The settings are ready and the common instruments I use are already loaded.

So, when I have that creative musical spark, I don’t need to worry about setting up the computer. it is all ready for me. Any energy that I do have can be almost totally channelled into creativity. So to make things easier for yourself

• prepare any templates for programs you may use
• keep a box of art tools close by that don’t need unpacking
• learn shortcuts for any computer programs you use

Creative energy is precious, don’t waste it. It only takes a little preparation to free your energy and let it roam. So do that preparation, before the next big idea comes along.

The wonderful Smashing Magazine has just listed some other great time-saving tips for designers and you can find them here.

In 1978 Karol Józef Wojty?a became Pope. He was born this day in 1920, and 58 years later became the first non-Italian pope in 455 years. The odds were stacked against Karol becoming pope as he was also from a Slavic country, a country that has never delivered a pope before.

When someone becomes pope they take on a new name. For Karol, he took the name of his immediate predecessor. The pope before Karol has reigned for only several weeks. But Karol was inspired by the one who had come before and, in honour, and to lead himself to achieve even greater things, he took on that name.

The rest, they say, is history. Karol became Pope John Paul II. And Pope John Paul II, became a pope who far surpassed his predecessor. Karol was inspired to do greater things than had been done before. What are you being inspired to do today?

John Paul II (pope)

There is a great post over at one of my favourite sites, Smashin Magazine. It is all about using music to inspire your visual creativity, enjoy:

Drawing Inspiration From Music | Inspiration | Smashing Magazine

Typos are very important to all written form. It gives the reader something to look for so they aren’t distracted by the total lack of content in your writing

Randy K. Milholland

I’m sure there are countless mistakes throughout !maginality, and for this I apologise. But I try to limit them. I read and re-read everything I post here. The point is we should always proof-read anything we are about to post. So create and stick to this habit:

Before you hit the post button, re-read anything you have written.