Flashes of Paris Inspiration – Creativity in Action

If you’re like me, when you travel, you get a ton of inspiration. When I lead writing and creativity workshops, I invite people to gather their inspiration in one place. I call this ‘Flashes of Inspiration’. It’s a page at the back of my notebook where I write down all the wacky ideas I get. I don’t worry about feasibility or whether I will ever implement these ideas. It’s easier to find these gems later when they’re all in one place.

As a coach, I am about actionable ideas. There’s a point where more ideas aren’t really good. We creative types can easily get overwhelmed and then just do nothing. 

But while walking with my group in Paris, I reconsidered the value of ideas. Whenever I get an idea, I think to myself, “This is a GREAT idea!” I am full of enthusiasm, possibility, and joy. It doesn’t really matter if the idea is good or actionable. What if just the idea in itself, that blip of SQUEEE!! Is enough? What if we didn’t have to take action on everything?

I get joy from looking at my Flashes of Inspiration list. I typed up the ideas I got while leading Paris Sketchbook and Write Your Heart Out in Paris. The last item on the list is where my coach or project manager wants to come in. Do I need to make this list actionable? Probably not. Usually, things that rise to the top of the priority list get done. Sometimes, years later, you will pick up a list and see you’ve done most of them. 

Here’s my list, shared with you, with all the wild and whackery of it, in no particular order. 

1. Invite a ‘focus’ group of people for different sections of the book, most specifically ‘space’. “Listening party” (from Krista Tippett)
2. Paint my one small wall with chalkboard paint and do patterns on it. Or paint a pattern on the wall. (recurring inspiration)
3. Go back to the Portugal romance – fictionalize it and make it fun. 
4. Write the Portugal novel as a graphic novel. 
5. Digitize the Paris coffee books – aka take photos and put them into Notion so when I am in Paris I can use it. 
6. Grow an indoor herb garden in the winter. 
7. Make some kind of art or sculpture from Steve’s matchbooks – what would be a cool way to display them? 
8. Print photo stickers for the sketchbook. 
9. Resume meditation practice!
10. Write up Gigia’s melon ball apple trick and send it to Cook’s Illustrated. 
11. Never eat molten chocolate cake again. 
12. Take a romance novel writing class. 
13. Take a graphic novel writing class. 
14. Go back to healthy eating!
15. Sign up for the swim class. 
16. Write 10 jokes a day. 
17. List and illustrate 100 things from my favorite Paris market. 
18. Try more abstract paintings. 
19. Do a giant painting for the living room and frame it in a gold frame. 
20. Turn Write Your Heart Out in Paris into a class or ebook (or it actually belongs in current WIP).
21. Something about Chardon – do a painting or write a bit about it. 
22. Do a book of all my illustrated city alphabets. 
23. Use Smart and Soul website for professionals who want to write personal projects. 
24. Illustrated series – sinks of Paris. They are so tiny and cute. 
25. When in Paris, have projects to do. Like when I researched and wrote a historical novel. 
26. Get a better tone for my phone and ipad timer. 
27. Make that dance mix I keep talking about. 
28. Set up a call with Andrea to talk about pattern design. 
29. Study French more. 
30. Hire a creativity coach. 
31. Write a novel about the weekend in France during NaNoWriMo. 
32. Do NaNoWriMo about the novel in France. 
33. Submit my illustrated journey blessings to a travel magazine like Afar. 
34. Gather my photos into a Dropbox folder. 
35. Choose which of these things I will do and when. 

How do you capture and take action on the inspiration when you get while traveling? Share your secrets below.