creativity: 2 posts

Inspiration sometimes seems like a mysterious thing that appears out of the blue and illuminates your being. However, as most writers and artists know, inspiration is about work and being proactive. In the words of Jack London, “You can’t wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club.” Sometimes it takes more effort, but in all cases, there are ways to cultivate inspiration, and I would like to share mine with you.

Go to sleep, thinking of things you want to try or learn the next day

Before I go to sleep, I run in my mind over things that I would like to do the next day. I imagine which books I would like to read or what I would like to discover. I usually read based on my current interests or planned travels, and it fills me with pleasant anticipation and when I wake up, I already feel inspired. These days I’m reading a lot of travelogues to satisfy my wanderlust and before I fall asleep, I imagine the places described in the books and plan imaginary journeys.

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Firmenich Senior Perfumer Dora Baghriche and I recently met on @FirmenichFine’s IGTV on Instagram to talk about cultivating creativity in today’s world, from our own perspectives. Many of you already know Dora through her beautiful creations, but what you may not know is that before becoming a perfumer she studied journalism. So, we have a lot in common.

Here is the recording of our conversation. Many of my IG viewers enjoyed it and requested the full version, so here it is. (You can also watch it on IGTV here.)

In the course of our conversation, Dora recommended a documentary called The Possibilities are Endless about a lyricist Edwyn Collins who suffered a stroke that deleted the contents of his mind. The documentary is about his recovery and journey. Among the things that inspire me, I mentioned a book by Ismail Kadaré, The Chronicle in Stone as well as a poem by Boris Pasternak, Let’s Drop Words.

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