SoulPancake, and the struggle for creative inspiration

If you read the title of this post, you're probably wondering what in the hell SoulPancake is. Well, in an extremely small nutshell, SoulPancake is a project that attempts to make people "chew on life's big questions." Do we need religion? Why do we hate? What does art have to do with the soul? What do you do when you can't wrap your head around certain teachings in your religion? These are a just a few of the questions SoulPancake presents to challenge the way you think, and to hopefully make you look at life a bit differently. To learn a little more, visit SoulPancake.com or pick up the SoulPancake book.

Now that I've gotten my product plug out of the way, let's move on to the meat of this post. This question comes from page 34 and 35 of the SoulPancake book, and I've posted a picture because the book is so damn gorgeous from cover to cover. (Shit, I'm still product-plugging.)

"What paralyzes your creativity? What fuels it?"

This is something that I've always struggled with, and it's the reason that so many of my blogs have faded away into the Cyber Nothingness. This question really challenged me to dig up the root of my creativity and figure out what caused it to continually die. What I've discovered is that the things paralyzing my creativity are also the things that can fuel it. 

1. Self-confidence: It's funny, really, how much of an impact confidence has on my ability to be creative. If I'm feeling down on my luck one day, or just particularly shitty, it's safe to assume that I'll be sprawled across my couch watching reruns of Seinfeld and not challenging myself to create something. On the flip side of that coin, if I'm feeling confident and on top of the world, my creative juices are flowing. I've learned that the trick is to simply find something, anything, to be confident about so that my creativity doesn't become paralyzed. 
2. My work space: If my room is in shambles, and my desk is littered with paper, clothes and random receipts, I won't be sitting down at it anytime soon. My desk is my safe place. It's covered in memories and constant sources of inspiration: the Abraham Lincoln mug my brother left when he hurried off to college, the mason jar lamp I made when I was feeling particularly inspired, and the Monte Cristo cigar box my brother gifted to me many moons ago. (This box has had an amazing amount of impact on my life, though he doesn't know that. But that's a story for another time.) Lastly, unless the SoulPancake book is coming with me to a coffee shop, it's sitting on my desk, constantly encouraging me to write, draw, read, and create. 
3. Discipline: Being creative takes a lot of self-discipline. I used to be of the mind that pure inspiration only came when you weren't searching for it. I would sit around for days, weeks, and months, waiting to be inspired so that I could write my next blog post or create my next little knick-knack. The cold, hard truth is that creativity has to be nurtured and tended to in order for it to flourish. If you plant a sapling, you can't expect it to grow on its own -- it has to be watched after every day so it can mature and become a brilliant, sprawling oak. (Excuse the frighteningly cliche metaphor.) The same goes for creativity. If you want it to grow and reach its full potential, then you have to baby it. For me, this means constantly writing or working on a design for my next project. If I'm not blogging, then I'm journaling, and if I'm not journaling, then I'm at work interacting with people and soaking in what they have to say. If I'm not doing that, then I'm out buying lamp kits, or twine, or shopping around at antique stores and looking for things that inspire me to create. 

American journalist and author Jack London said it best: "You can't wait for inspiration, you have to go after it with a club."

Thanks for reading! See you soon. 

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Mason Jar Lamp

Today, I had a sudden burst of creative energy. I cleaned and rearranged my room, and then decided, "Hell, let's make a lamp." So I did. Before we get to the pictures, though, a little back story: A few months ago while I was out shopping with a friend of mine, we wandered into a store called Cotton On. Their clothes are awesome, and I bought a few things, but that's not what we're here for. Overhead, just outside the fitting room doors, there was a light fixture comprised of ten mason jars with light bulbs installed. (I basically had an orgasm. I have a thing for light fixtures. It's weird. Let's move on.) Luckily for you, kind reader, I Instagrammed it. Here's the photo:

At that moment, I decided my life wouldn't be complete without one of these things in my room. So after approximately four months, my life is complete. Or something. Whatever. Anyway, here's how I did it. 

First, I found a mason jar. In my house, this is astonishingly easy. My dad has this weird thing about collecting glass jars. (Don't even ask. I have no idea why. Turns out, he doesn't either.) After sorting through about 20 jars that were hidden beneath the kitchen sink, I decided on this guy:

Next, I found a cheap, old lamp from Walmart that my parents were happy to let me destroy for the lamp kit inside. (A lamp kit being that nifty little socket that you screw a bulb into. You can buy them individually at hardware stores or on Amazon, but this was cheaper.) And destroy it I did. 

The only problem is that once I managed to break that pesky thing apart, the portion of the cord that was concealed beneath all that fake wood was encased in a metal tube. With the right tools, I could have probably cut it off without doing much harm to the actual cord. Unfortunately, I had no such tools, so I moved on to plan B. 

I found an old Ikea lamp that was much (much, much, much) easier to disassemble. About 30 seconds later, I ended up with this:

Next, I cut a hole in the lid of the mason jar with a box-cutter. I didn't have to be very precise about it, as this specific lamp kit was going to do a nice job of covering up any rough edges I happened to leave. 

Then I slid the lamp kit through the hole and screwed in the bulb. 

The next part was surprisingly the most tedious, but also the most satisfying. I found a roll of twine in the garage and began to wrap up the dull, white cord. This gave it the rustic, handmade look I was going for. 

And here's the final product mounted over my desk. 

Thanks for reading!

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