My Creative Inspiration: Rachel
When you’re working in a field that constantly demands creativity and innovation, it can be difficult to find new ways to stay inspired. It’s easy to slip into a rut, especially when creating content starts to feel more like a chore and less like a passion.
Editing is like Dancing
I started taking dance lessons when I was three years old. For the next thirteen years, I would spend weeknights at the studio learning new techniques and choreographing routines with my peers. I didn’t know it at the time, but my love for dance would later spark my love for videography.
Choosing the song for a new routine is just like selecting the backtrack for a video project. Carefully adjusting my movements to the music as it dipped and swelled led me to be more aware of the shots I filmed and the sequence they should fall in. Learning to dance to the beat and keep in time with the tempo helped me to be more mindful of the cuts I made while editing a montage. Pouring my heart and soul into a performance on stage? Well, that’s exactly what I do every day here at PEG.
This is just one example of how I was able to find inspiration in my everyday life. I’ve learned a lot from pulling inspiration from mundane tasks like this, and I’m sure you can too. The next time you drive to work, make dinner, drink coffee, or talk to a friend, try to see if you can source any inspiration from that experience. I think you might be surprised.
Changing It Up
Apart from this, music has always been a constant source of inspiration in my life. I’ve found that simply just changing the song in a video can make me see it in a whole new light, often times rerouting the direction of the video entirely. Sometimes a shift in perspective is all it takes to reignite my passion for a project.
I’m also a naturally competitive person, so there’s some satisfaction in constantly trying to one-up myself. I find myself rewatching some of my old videos, studying them, noting things I like and areas I could improve upon. Every time I edit a new video, I always try to make it better than my last. This mentality forces me to push myself further and ensure I’m constantly evolving as a storyteller.
Ultimately, I just try to remind myself that creativity cannot be forced. Even the most productive people experience periods of burnout. Instead of viewing burnout as an obstacle, I try to alter my point of view and instead use that time to try out something different and explore new avenues of inspiration.
