Creativity and Inspiration

What is creativity? To me creativity is the use of imagination and being able to turn imaginative ideas into a reality. Creativity is not copying someone's imagination and crediting it for your creativity, its all about bringing something new to this world. With passion and motivation nothing can get in the way of creativity. Since being a young girl I have always been surrounded by creative minds, with my dad being a creative director (says it in the name really) I've been force-fed creativity. I was never the child colouring neatly inside the lines, I was always the girl who drew all over the paper and made my own drawing. In fact I was never actually the child who could sit down for long enough to colour in. I was always on the go, outside running around, discovering new places,walkie talkie in one hand and a disposable camera in the other. I used to channel all my creativity into creating the latest game for the kids in our close to play or making a picture out of leaves. Now times have changed and creativity is approached in different ways. As you grow older you find that there is more of a barrier in front of this so called creativity. We find that train tickets are more expensive so we can't go up to say London to photograph that place we saw on Instagram yesterday, we find that we don't have as much energy as we had before and that we can easily get stuck in a never ending circle of not feeling inspired. Now that I am nearing the age of being an adult I have channel my creative thoughts in several different ways:

Photography:
I think my real love for photography came from visiting South Africa, my auntie used to have a house out there which overlooked Boulders Beach. I think that trip was the first time "My eyes were opened to nature" which my mum used to repeat every time I appreciated nature. I saw all these beautiful beaches, surrounded by mountains. Looking back on all the pictures of the incredible sunny adventures we had out there made me really want to travel more and experience more places. My camera is in my hand most of the time now, I regret not taking many pictures in the last couple of years and I want to make up for not capturing vital parts of my life in the last few years. I am very passionate about photography, I don't exactly have the best camera or the best skills in the area but I still enjoy taking photos here and there to add to the other 31,506 photos on my hard drive.

Friends:
One of my favourite quotes is that "Friends don't get jealous of each other for finding success, they celebrate the victory together" by Michael Pitt, which is totally true. Everyday I see many people post about the amazing things they are doing each day and never have I felt jealous or spiteful (well maybe that one time when that person was on the..) I am going off track but by seeing other people succeed, it motivates me to succeed too, then hopefully I can pass that motivation onto someone else. Here is a list of a few good humans who inspire me:
Lauren Shipley (http://www.brittonloves.co.uk/)- Lauren is a good friend of mine and we have been friends for well over a year now. I first became friends with Lauren after finding her blog randomly, she is one of my most lovely, talented and just all around positive human. She has taught me a lot about photography and has really pushed me into delving into new things.
Katie Jones (@lovelysuggs/@katiealicejones)- I met Katie in september of 2014 and we have stayed the best of friends since then. We met at a book signing and we instantly bonded. When me and Katie meet up it just seems to be one big instagram mission. I blame my fussiness of making a picture match my theme on her.
Carrie Harwood (http://wishwishwish.net)- I first met Carrie January last year at an event, Carrie is a successful blogger ranging from fashion to travel. She is an amazing creative and has taught me a lot about the blogging/creative industry. Plus her instagram is the most beautiful thing and seeing it just makes me want to be able to have a good theme.
Liv Purvis (http://www.whatoliviadid.com)- I met Olivia at the same event I met Carrie at and she is such a stylish chick. I have been so inspired by Liv's blog and I can thank her for my fashion sense as without her blog I think I would still live in my pyjamas.
Ben Brown (https://www.youtube.com/user/benbrown100)- I first found Ben's youtube channel by accident as I searching up for my God brother on google. In the last couple of years I have watched every single one of his videos. I feel like after watching them I feel so empowered to go out and just travel. He has changed my views on a lot of topics too and has made me fall in love with South Africa all over again.
Casey Neistat (https://www.youtube.com/user/caseyneistat)- First of all if you don't follow Casey then what are you doing with your life. Casey documents his life through vlogs, which are very fast pace and enjoyable to watch. He just makes me want to get shit done after watching his vlogs.
Mae Lonsdale (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgeMcCi72Nwg7abqZmctGgA)- Mae is my best friend and without her I truly don't know where I would be. She makes me get out of bed in the morning and go to sleep at a reasonable time at night.

Art:
I am currently an art student and as much as I hate it, I would hate to not do it. Everything about it makes me happy. The feeling of paint flowing across my paper or the feeling of the thread being pulled from beneath the material, it's a way for me to channel all my negative energy into something.

Music:
I remember being in Italy when I was around 5 and finding a Piano in our villa. That day my mum taught me how to play Fur Elise and from then my love for the Piano has expanded. I am self taught and every week I try to learn a new song (I am currently learning Surprise party by Hoodie Allen). I feel that with music it's my escape from the world. It's where I get inspiration for my creativity and my outlet of my feelings.

With creativity comes inspiration 

Inspiration is the process of feeling stimulated to do something or feel something. Inspiration is a key part of any creator. A creator to me is creating something new for this world which will impact in a positive way. Inspiration can come from anything that impacts you to produce something creative. I find that one of the most powerful inspirations for me is people who I surround myself with as I feel that their positive energy gets engraved into me. I find that I get the most inspiration at random times from unexpected things, which always turns out to be the best inspiration. Without being creative I wouldn't be where I am today. I'm so thankful that I have the chance to be creative and be able to be inspired everyday.

So finally, how am I going to carry on being creative in the future? In the future I plan to go into the creative industry to work. I'm extremely interested in the magazine industry or the PR industry for a creative company. I'm not a person to plan my future, I like to take things as they come, so as long as I am happy, I will be over the moon.

This post was for a competition for my dear friend Tom Morton's company TJSM, which is a modern clothing line. Go check it out http://www.tjsmclothing.com

Beginner Banana Bread

Saturday night is always prime baking time in my household. Every now and then I seem to go on a crazy banana spree thinking that its humanly possible to eat four in one day. I always seem to have a growing pile of over-ripe bananas on the verge of being completely black. This is why this banana bread is my life (wasting money) saver. With only 5 minuets of preparation this is a delicious recipe for beginners. 

Ingredients

> 2 Mashed Bananas (very ripe)

> 2 Eggs 

> 1tsp Baking Powder

> 100g Butter (softened)

> 230g Self Raising Flour

> 2tsp Milk

> 160g Caster Sugar 

Method 

Step one: Preheat the oven to 180C / Fan 160C / Gas 4

Step two: Put the butter in the microwave on full power until half melted

Step three: Mix the Butter, sugar and baking powder in a mixing bowl until combined

Step four: Add in the flour and eggs and continue to combine

Step five: Then add in the mashed bananas and milk

Step six: Continue until it's a runny texture

Step seven: Next you want to slightly grease a loaf tin and then cover with greaseproof paper 

Step eight: Then put in the oven for one hour until golden brown. If unsure, stick a skewer into the bread and if it comes out clean then it is done

Step nine: Leave the tin to cool for 10-20 mins then remove and leave to cool further

I hope you try out this recipe and enjoy it. It's a perfect snack to have any time of the day and probably won't last you more than a couple of hours as its so delicious.