What do you do when you get bored?

[HumanLathe]

SO when your lacking inspiration and feeling the push to be creative what do you do? I feel like I want to make all these projects come to life but I fall short of finding a good starting point. Where do you begin and what helps you focus on your goal. I know a lot of people have focus problems including Misha and I. So if your having problems starting the creativite part of your brain what helps you get back on track.

[Gibsons Glassworks]

i was in a slump, wake up in the mornign say " today is going to be a wickid day" and then getter done! thinksing and feeling positive are the same thing

[Snurf]

go up to the mtns for an afternoon..... play in the fresh snow...works great for me

[Micah Evans]

clean my bench and prep like crazy. Make sure your environment is ready to go when you are. Half of my problem is not wanting to spend the time getting ready to make things when I get inspired. if all my ducks are in a row waiting, I can jump on inspiration whenever it calls.

[FredLight]

Take a vigorous walk,usually about 2 miles will do.

Walk fast,long strides. Pace your breaths with your steps,4 counts in, 4 counts out.

Take full breaths, that's the most important part.

Respiration / Inspiration. Notice a similarity?

[Kalera]

Prep helps me a lot. And then when I start making stuff, I do the "no pressure... just play with color" route and generally, one thing leads to another and pretty soon I feel inspired to make something interesting or challenging. In the meantime, the simple color-play frit beads and stuff will sell, just not for a premium.

[ech]

When I get bored I go for broke. I try to make a peice that I've been thinking about for a while but I didn't think I could pull off. These peices are usually big learning experiences for me and I usually end up making two versions. One that is pretty larfy screwed up and one that is pretty good. I've only been blowing for three years so I still have more knowledge about some techniques than I do skill to execute them. I had people teach me stuff 2 years ago that I still haven't had a chance to try so when I get bored with stuff that I've gotten down I try a new thing that I've seen demoed but haven't tryed to do yet.

[vetropod]

A journey of 10,000 steps begins with 1 step.

Try tackling your goals a little less aggressively, and let go of the pressure to produce. If you're not producing anything right now, what's the problem if the work doesn't turn out right? Let go of the pressure to produce, and often it'll happen on it's own.

[Firekist]

caffeine, a good walk, a particular album extra loud, a look through the full/not full cases and see where there are "holes", inviting someone over. (billy stopped on his way out to you guys yesterday.. i'm sure he'll be inspiring for a while!)

sometimes i make something simply and slowly, trying not to pay any attention to time, but just trying to enjoy the way the glass moves.. appreciating things i don't normally take the time to appreciate.

surfing the web, reading the board can help.. just trying to find something new to capture in glass.. a new tool, a new color...

sometimes just looking at the credit card bill or bank account help.. =) sometimes it's a picture of the cat by the bench.. you have kids.. i'm guessing those are inspiring sometimes.

i think my next slump i'll try making some pieces/do some techs that probably can't be profitable, but should be at least tried, just to see what they look like.. just to make them exist.

oh.. audiobooks are great as well.. it's one way to keep your body making glass while your mind's off in space meeting new people, or boating down a river... etc.

i also like to cook.. sushi and indian food, multiple dishes. it can take a long time, and it just helps me to get completely away from glass. that completely away from glass helps me for when i come back to it.. there's less wear in my brain it feels like.. in the glass area at least..

.. packing in as much as i can that's not glass in a day always refreshes me, as well as tires me out... but more so refreshes

remembering "this too shall pass" may not speed things along, but it can make the void less.. ominous/icky.. heh

reading all that should at least occupy your mind for a little while =)

z--seth

[harpentuan]

I like to tinker with; and ride my 2 micro moto-bikes . They are loud and smelly, yet that is what helps clear the head I think.

Deep Internet searching (and reading) is always good for keeping the learning brain-part active.

Fixing old stuff that most people would have thrown out is also rewarding.

[somberbear]

i have been distracted today with my new toy.... we got a front end loader put on our mini tractor its fun to run around all mad max.....

peace
rob

[PyroChixRock]

I go bug you when i get bored.

Probably not the answer you're looking for tho hahah

[WORLD FAMOUS]

Here's my boredom killers:

Play some guitar/write music
Draw or paint
Call up friends
Clean the Volcano
Design/get a new tattoo
Go mtn. biking across the street
Internet research/reading
Organize something you have been putting off
Re-evaluate goals

Getting myself into the shop lately has been a real hell! I was feeling really burnt out on glass a few months ago, so I recently took some time off the torch to travel and such, but now that I am home and ready to work again, I am having some crippling motivational problems. Instead of doing these activities when I am bored, I have been doing them to avoid working. It's actually getting kinda outta hand at this point. Working with glass is majorly stressing out right now for some reason and I am desperately trying to get back to my normal levels of passion and desire to work. Usually it is my release, not the cause of my affliction.

Hopefully it will all pass soon and we'll be raging it up more than ever before Matt!

[mer]

i pretend that my workbench is a spaceship. set the controls for the heart of the sun. my torch controls my thrusters so that i can soar through the heavens. as i travel to unexplored parts of the galaxy im sure to encounter new and unfamiliar regions of my mind. i can see the shapes that are most natural to the universe. these are the real truths that i am able to incorporate into designs. as i snatch these shapes from the far regions i become part of the flow of the cosmos. when i return to earth i have momentos of my travels that i can share with the kind people of the earth.
hope that helps, m

[Kalera]

That's rad. Why don't adults play pretend more?

[newmexicomagma]

not to sound dorky but normally i jump here online and look at alot of your guys/gals work and that really inspires me, u guys r bad ass. shows me as long as i keep working i have something to look forward to.

[friendlykats]

I just make myself do r and r for two days like 50 a day. After that I feel like makeing some art. Some times its good for me to go back to the roots.

[Harry Paratesteez]

Lsd

[gravdigr]

Lsd

you win

Usually I watch some dvds I have about lampworking, that usually gets me in the mood.

One thing that really works but is hard to trigger on purpose...I find that when I can't go do something is the exact time I have really good ideas and want to do something. This week for instance. I went to start preheating the shop to burn some glass and the furnace died (a very fun and long story which ended with my shop, 24'x60' with 10' ceilings, full of billowing oil furnace smoke making me open all the doors and turn on both my exhaust blowers for an hour to clear it). So with no furnace and the shop at 25 degrees I could not do any lampworking and found myself really wanting to. I installed a used furnace I picked up today and finally got to work on the cobalt blue and fumed peanut pipe I was thinking about. Then noticed the shop getting cold and found out the furnace blower motor had siezed. So I spent another hour fixing that and all the while thinking about the next piece I was gonna make. The point to all this is for 4 days before the furnace died I was totally uninspired and had no urge to try a new piece, I actually forced myself to go over the day the furnace broke.

So basically make yourself do something you do not particularly enjoy you will find yourself thinking about something else and the creative juices start flowing as you think 'you know, I could be making a bitchin' inside out fumed dichro sherlock with a sidecar." :poof: you are now in the mood and have an idea, good or bad, to play with.

[thealabamaglassflow]

load up the bong, crank up the song, and let the informers call 911...