Wall detail in Ribe, one of my favorite towns in Denmark.
Since my latest blog post, my little family and I have spent nearly a month in Europe. I am happy to report the airplane rides to and fro went surprisingly well, even with our recently-turned one-year-old. The time changes, however…let me tell you, it’s not the easiest thing in the world to induce a jet-lagged baby to go back to sleep in the middle of the night! (P.S. If this post is incoherent, you now know why…)
I can’t really complain about baby L’s middle-of-the-night-wakings though (not all the time anyway). In a previous blog post, I mentioned I get many writing-related ideas in the early hours because his sleep interruptions. This held true for me on our vacation as well. When baby L decided to wake up at 2:30am the second night in a row after our arrival, for example, an idea for an entire novel struck me. Talk about an upside to sleep deprivation! (I should also mention we got some interesting looks from a pack of youth as we strolled down the streets of Stockholm at three o’clock that very same morning. Yeah.)
While spending time in Sweden, Denmark, and Germany, ideas have flowed to me during the days as well as in the wee hours of the too-early morning. I love getting ideas! I feel invigorated and enlightened when I do. When I’m in an idea drought, life is a little less exciting for me (ok, much less exciting). That’s part of the reason I love traveling. When I go somewhere and see new things, the new impressions I get seem to make the ideas flow easier. This time, I went to Europe. Fortunately, a walk in the mountains can be just as fruitful (and much less costly). Even a stroll around the block has sparked new ideas within me.
Of course, ideas are (relatively) easy to come by. Idea sifting, development, and execution? Now that’s where the going gets tough. Nevertheless, I am so grateful when ideas come. It means the upstairs machinery is working, which can only be good when I actually sit down to idea sift, develop, and execute, right? I will be doing some idea development and execution today, by the way – wish me luck!
What I’m trying to say (in a round-about way):
If you want to be inspired and get new ideas (writing-related or not), I encourage you to go on an Inspiration Vacation. It’s nice when you’re able to visit an exotic destination, but a trip to a local park or neighboring town will probably be just as effective. Besides, I think we sometimes forget that we all live in places that are probably exotic to someone else. More power to the Inspiration Staycation!
Then again, I’m hoping for another Inspiration Vacation soon. I’m a sucker for castles and the one in the Magic Kingdom is just too crowded. =)
That’s right. I only allow my child to use swings located in the proximity of a castle.
My name is Angelica Hagman and I write children's literature. On this blog, I muse about writing and life. I also combine my love for writing with my interest in photography by regularly posting picture writing prompts.