How to Find Inspiration Locally

Although I often receive inspiration by spending quiet time reading a book, I sometimes need to leave the house and set out on an adventure. Such inspiration doesn’t require that I travel to some distant natural wonder; I simply need to leave my current space for somewhere with new stimulation. This could be a walk in the park, browsing a dime store, or even a trip to the museum.

My friend Vyvyan Hughes creates neon signs and recently collaborated with Lauri Stallings and glo on Supple Means of Connection, a temporary exhibit at the High Museum here in Atlanta.

When I entered the exhibit, Vyvyan neon welcomed me with the words “beautiful stranger thank you for coming.” It set the stage for an interactive experience over the next hour. In addition to neon signs, the exhibit included old machinery, brick walls, dresses, fabric, smartphones playing video, wall projections, earth mounds with grass, and dancers who interacted with visitors.

Even though I received a pamphlet to help me interpret the exhibit, I chose not to read it. I wanted to experience the exhibit without expectation and create my own context.

As I wandered through the exhibit, I recalled spending the morning reading an email from my friend, Charise, in Texas and a newsletter from George Hahn. Both had given me food for thought. Charise had shared how working with affirmations that week had kept her focused and produced some unexpected results while George’s newsletter included articles about living minimally in Cleveland, men’s fashion, and the benefits of making cities more bicycle-friendly. I experienced that inner ding of knowing I should be more intentional in my thoughts in the morning by working with a few affirmations and a desire to create more space—both figuratively and literally. Part of the beauty of Supple Means of Connection was its spare use of space, which gave my eyes and my mind a place to contemplate what I had experienced as I moved from one part of the exhibit to the next.

One section of the exhibit included a pink dress fanning the floor. In a moment of whimsy, it reminded me of one of the costumes from The Handmaid’s Tale television series, and I imagined some poor women falling victim to a steamroller as she tried to escape, flattened like dough under a rolling pin. By some miracle, though, she managed to escape and only her oppressive costume was left to fade under a hot sun.

In another part of the exhibit, random items, both rustic and technological, were laid out over what I assumed to be a clear epoxy sculpture. It brought to mind the image of two men entering a deserted city after an apocalypse and wandering into a museum where they see glimpses of the people who once lived there and how it reminds them of their lost ones they’ve fought to forget.

The word “soft” appeared several times through the exhibit and symbolized in the media of many pieces.

Signs displayed phrases that encouraged me to figure out what they meant to me and where I am at that moment in my life. One of my favorites was near the mounds of dirt covered with grass; the sign asked me to take as much energy as I needed from the bit of earth in a stark, urban setting.

As I watched a video about stallings, which included some of the dancers who were currently wandering the exhibit, one of them approached and gazed at my face. It’s not often that someone looks at someone else with so much focus, so it got my attention. The dancer said, “Repeat ‘be love thirty-three times’.” I almost laughed, thinking of my earlier thought about how I should use affirmations to be more intentional about my focus for the day. After all, how often do I unconsciously affirm days where I feel distracted, running out of time, or am unable to easily find an answer to the problem at hand? Taking a moment to take inhale deeply and consciously choose to affirm I am focused, have plenty of time to do what needs to be done, and easily find the right solution for each challenge creates a much more enjoyable and productive day than an unconscious approach. In the end, all of our thoughts are affirmations whether we realize it or not. As if to affirm that thought, another dancer appeared before I had finished repeating “be love” thirty-three times and asked me to repeat the affirmation another thirty-three times.

Some people bemoan how technology hinders creativity; however, I embraced the power of my iPhone 8 at the exhibit. I took pictures of images and words that resonated with me and captured video of the dancers interacting with the space to revisit later. Some of these images and videos may supply creative fuel my stories, while others may inspire me to interact with words and the space in my home in a new way.

As I left the museum, I was struck by how my motivation to attend the exhibit was to support my friend without much thought as to what my experience would be. Since the exhibit didn’t include any curation of the Dutch Masters or the Impressionists, it was easy to keep my expectations low; however, as I left, I realized Supple Means of Connection had been one of my favorite exhibits at the High. It reminded me, too, of how over the past few years I have developed a fascination with creating more meaningful experiences with others that had recently led me to start reading The Art of Gathering: How We Meet and Why It Matters by Priya Parker.

Where will you go today to find inspiration? Why haven’t you left yet?