[Background]
I reconnected with my best friend from college before I moved and we both made goals for this new year, one was as simple as picking up a new hobby.
So #MonthlyMoodBoard was born!
Yes, there's a Pinterest for that but nothing has made me feel more creative lately than getting hands on and using basic elementary school techniques: cutting with scissors, using a big fat glue stick, and playing with glitter to create messes you'll later regret.
This goes to my observation that everything is so digital, maybe a little too digital. At least in my line of work, you never realize how much time you're spending behind a screen.
I've recently sat through a meeting in which they decided to go old school and use colored post it notes to map out the next 6 months of planning. I know it's not a complete lost art, but I even like to journal things in a physical journal with entries I don't post online. Sometimes we just yearn for the physical things to balance our creativity.
What started as just a fun hobby has turned in to a way to exercise my brain and keep my creative fire going. It's also fun to portray my current mood on life as I see it and how I want to envision the month ahead.
My thoughts, feelings, attitudes can all be portrayed into one board that I can visualize or can even manifest the answers to.
I like to encourage my creativity to flow and start from scratch, but it usually starts with inspiration or something I've been seeing in repetition, and I build from there. Sometimes you have an idea in mind but as you go it completely changes. That's the best part.
See this Instagram photo by @itsapelife * 103 likes
My last mood board for January actually came from a collection of highs and extreme lows I experienced dramatically in 2016. I took a look at what I was collecting and realized a lot of the visuals I put together were black & white. The other inspiration dealt with my fascination with "seeing stars" lately.
[February Mood]
This February, I'm allowing the the light in for different views including the current view of my new home and experiences in LA. I started compiling different cityscapes from NY, London, Mexico beaches, and random windows on the corner of the board. In some way, it all came beautifully together to form one kind of "view," kind of like a fantasy LA. I've been learning so much about myself, growing personally and professionally with everyday being so different. I'm learning a lot about what the city has to offer, constantly being surrounded by a mix of creatives within the industry.
Mood boards can be pretty simple but I like to take it to a new level of where telling a story matters. Every clothing trend I'm seeing, type of texture, quote I'm inspired by, or physical object adds a different creative element to my story. The pink cassette tape was a gift from my roommate and her favorite band, the 1975.
All I've been craving since my move are challenges - and more of them. I LOVE a challenge. I go crazy when I'm not being productive, but I'm working on not beating myself up if I'm not. In the end, this is what I've always wanted. I live for this.
I've been presented with SO much opportunity lately and I'm sometimes overwhelmed with how to juggle it all, but nonetheless I'm so grateful for it, with every little step getting closer to living my dream. Wait, I am living my dream.
But as I'm getting closer to finding my fit, I'm not going to settle. I have a need to keep going.
I seriously look at this mood board and it just makes me feel incredibly happy.
Creativity is fulfillment.
xo A