When Inspiration Lives in the Ordinary
“When we slow down enough to notice these small wonders, we nurture our creative spirit in life-enriching ways.”
Earlier today, while watering my garden, I noticed how water droplets caught the morning light on my elephant ear leaves - each one holding a tiny universe of colourful delight and reflection. These small moments of wonder are everywhere, waiting to be noticed.
So often, we think inspiration needs to be dramatic or extraordinary. We wait for the perfect conditions, the right mood, or some mystical spark of 'genius'. But I've discovered that the richest inspiration often lives in the quiet corners of our everyday lives.
It might be:
The way shadows dance across your kitchen wall
How your tea swirls when you add milk
The pattern of leaves on your garden path
The colours in your fruit bowl
The rhythm of your own breathing
These are all invitations into creative presence. When we slow down enough to notice these small wonders, we nurture our creative spirit in life-enriching ways.
As I write about in my upcoming book, inspiration isn't something we wait for - it's something we cultivate through gentle attention to what's already here. Sometimes the simplest moments hold the deepest creative nourishment.
Here's a gentle invitation:
Choose one ordinary thing in your space right now. Really look at it as if you're seeing it for the first time. Notice its colours, textures, the way light plays on its surface. What draws your eye? What makes you curious? There's no need to "do" anything with these observations - simply gathering them fills your creative well.
If you're finding yourself drawn to nurturing your creative awareness alongside others who understand this way of seeing the world, I'd love to invite you to join our Creative Hearts Community. Here, we practice this kind of gentle noticing together, supporting each other in finding the extraordinary in our ordinary days through:
Monthly creative exploration calls
Quarterly virtual retreats
Shared creative discoveries
Ongoing inspiration and support
Inspiration doesn't always shout - sometimes it whispers in the quiet moments between things.
Be kind to yourself and nurture your creativity.
With my warmest wishes,
~ Nicola
P.S. If you're curious about deepening your creative practice in community, the doors to Creative Hearts are open now. Join us to transform how you see and experience your creative world.
P.P.S. I've been enjoying playing with my 50mm lens on my digital SLR camera again and tried to capture the droplets on my elephant ears plants for you below :)
About Nicola Newman
I'm a Creative Business Coach, Award-Winning Artist & Mentor for Creative Hearts who want to flourish, flow & prosper.
My passion is inspiring and supporting Creative Hearts to trust their inner wisdom and carve out a life that’s personally meaningful and fulfilling to them.
I share practical, evidence-based tools for Creative Hearts seeking to improve their lives or businesses. My work draws from acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), mindfulness-based techniques, body-based practices, and neuroscience -- and my own creative living adventures -- among other approaches.
My mission is to support Creative Hearts to:
Dissolve creative blocks, develop a loving relationship with themselves, nurture their creativity and reframe the beliefs and patterns that keep them from following their heart and making the creative contribution they would love to make in the world.
My approach is to embrace gentleness, playfulness and self-care to navigate self-doubt and instead cultivate deep self-trust so you can truly enjoy the creative process, bring together your body of work, make money doing what you love and leave a creative legacy you’re proud of.
Let’s pour a cuppa and get to know one another, shall we? :) Read more about my story here.
