We left New York City over the summer.
As a creative strategist, I am deeply impacted by the aesthetics around me. And New York City is chock-full of creative inputs. A walk to Bethesda Fountain in Central Park. The architecture of Soho. People-watching on the subway. The arts and culture scene in Brooklyn. The billboards. The subway ads. The graffiti, the art installations, the pop-ups, and the festivals. You catch my I<3 NY drift. In NYC, my creative energy was always skyscraper high.
We lived 4 inspired years in the city. And then the pandemic hit. Followed by a move to the suburbs. I was worried I would lose my creative mojo faster than a rat dragging pizza down a subway stair.
A study has shown that the linkage between city living and creativity is rooted in the spillover from diversity. The mixing and mingling of people and cultures invite the strange and the new, prying open the mind.
Unfortunately, like toilet paper on pandemic eve, creative inputs in the suburbs are in short supply. So I’m searching for supplements to boost my imagine system.
A few things I am experimenting with:
- Meditation
- Nature trail to walk
- Polaroid photography
- Writing every day
- Connecting with the people in my creative network
Friends, what are you doing to keep your creative edge?
