Today’s post is short and sweet. I wanted to share with you my Inspire Me Notebook.

It’s nothing fancy… just a collection of clippings from magazines, pinterest, online blogs, and other random sources. I just glue them to a sheet of paper and place them in the book.

Why use a book like this? Well… remember this post?  Sometimes, I get a little burnt out… and I need something to inspire me. Something to refresh. When I find it (by flipping through a magazine, looking online, etc)… I cut it out/print it and put in in the book so I can remember the idea. Now, it doesn’t mean I set out to copy the idea or the shot/image exactly. Imitating something won’t do me any good at all. It’s not me.

I save the images because they help me to think in a different way then before. Or because there is a something in the image that speaks to me. Whatever it is… it gets me excited.

I read this quote recently in a book I read over vacation… and thought it fit the discussion today…

“Take inspiration from anywhere that fuels your imagination. Devour old films, new films, music, books, paintings, photographs, poems, dreams, random conversations, architecture, street signs, trees, water, clouds, light and shadows. Select only things to steal from that speak to your soul. If you do this, your work will be authentic.”  – Jim Jarmusch

Now, I have set out, scheduled times I go and spend time filling my notebook. One, this keeps me from wasting a ton of time on blogs and in magazines when I should be working. Two, I look forward to it… and come out of that time encouraged and well… inspired. 🙂

Anyways, I hope this may inspire you to start a book of your own!

And, if you have any other forms of inspiration you want to share… Please leave a comment below!

As you can see here… there is quite a range of things that end up in my book. You will even see some princess stickers from my kids there. But, hey they gave me some new ideas on posing brides!