A while ago, I asked my followers on social media to ask me questions and I would pick one to answer on the blog. This person had a two-part question that I thought was cool and definitely perfect timing to answer.
What inspires you to do what you do?
I am inspired by so many wonderful women in my circle, women that I virtually connect with online daily, my children and just my life in general. I used to live in a very rebellious way and were in toxic relationships that left me not being able to operate in exhibiting my best self. So I've taken my life from being a hothead to just being inspired to make a difference in my life and others, daily. I wholeheartedly believe in being a storyteller so I'm inspired to create the images and stories that I either wish someone told me or that I want to see.
I'm very passionate about being of service to my community, whatever community that may consist of (which is usually a group of women or working with women individually). I lost my confidence years ago due to being a victim of domestic violence and I prayed that if God removed me from that situation, I would do anything that He wanted me to do....... well my life currently, is mostly His answer to that prayer years ago.
I can be very impatient at times and although usually that's not supposed to work in my favor, it actually has when it comes to me creating my content. I can't wait on others to do what I want to do. If I want something or want to do something, I do it! I'm growing as a content creator, almost 9 years in the game. Each book I've written, play I've produced or blog I've published gets better as I study hard to enhance my skills and continue to create no matter what.
As far as for my children, they're older now so they're into their own worlds, creating their own paths but I always pray that I have lived my life before them as either parts that they would never want to go through and/or that I never gave up, no matter the situation. I want them to be inspired by my humanity overall. My connection to people of all races, socio-economic status, religion, etc., is something that only God can orchestrate and I'm very blessed for that.
I read magazines weekly, scrolling through Instagram daily and I am so inspired by the content that other people create. I love putting my own images together that were inspired by for example, Beyonce's Lemonade dress with her swinging that bat to creating images of my own flat lays of my favorite products that I use. I get so inspired when I'm planning my photo shoot concepts because it's me using my skills and talents as a storyteller. I write what I want to see down in my journal and use other content creators images for example in a magazine article or Instagram image if I want to recreate an image. As an "influencer" I can create images using feminine hygiene projects that will inspire women to go get their annual pap smears, change the products their using to gain better results and so forth.
I'm easily inspired by Issa Rae, Koereyelle, Ava Duvernay, Ronne Brown, Monique Rodriguez, Maya Elious and Mattie James just to name a few who are dominating the creative and entrepreneurial industries. These are black women who are trailblazers in film, entrepreneurship and blogging. So sometimes your "What keeps you inspired?"....... is really the "Who keeps you inspired?"
How do you keep that inspiration?
I keep being inspired by being consistent. Most people give up or don't try something at all, for fear of failure usually. I rather fail for trying than fail because I haven't tried at all. My first anything that I've done to date, wasn't my best work, but that gave me the motivation and inspiration to get back in that lab as I call it, get back to working on creating something better. You can't measure success, if you have nothing to measure it against.
Now everyday, I'm not always inspired to do anything! On those tough days, I just constantly push myself and remind myself of the goals that I want to accomplish and I get to work. I don't always feel like writing or doing photo shoots to create content but I know the mission and the vision that I have for my website and business so, it's apart of the work. Most of the content that I create doesn't easily get instant gratification so it may take me two months to write a play, rehearse for three months and then the actual show is one hour and half to produce. Talk about being inspired to have and keep PATIENCE.
I also keep my inspiration by being dedicated, organized and disciplined in doing what I say I'm going to do. If I say I'm going to do something, 99.9% of the time, I get it done. That one percent is because I'm human so I'll move things around or I'm simply not in a creative mood to get the task done in that moment so I'll go off and do something else. I keep my journal and planner with me at all times because creativity can spark anywhere and at anytime. I write out my to-do lists, schedule blog posts, write my goals weekly, monthly, quarterly, annually and anything else that I need to do to stay inspired.
I continuously support my circle of friends in whatever that they are doing if I'm available and usually, that prompts me to stay inspired to do what I'm doing as a content creator and writer. Being in the environment of people doing what you want to do, is so refreshing. If you're lacking inspiration, I highly suggest that you get around people that's doing what you want to do. I wanted to boss up or level up in my blogs and business so I started hanging out with and virtually connecting with women who were doing what I wanted to do eventually and trust me, I keep being inspired just by listening to their advice when needed and doing the work. You have to do the work, there's no getting around that. Allow other people to inspire you but don't be a copycat.
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