Check out the fun list I created for an article on inspiration.  These are life experience-type ideas that don’t take as much time or commitment as the usual examples of traveling, skydiving, learning a language or taking an art class.  Give some of these a try (or let them inspire you to create your own list) that you can pull from when you hit a creative block:

• Watch a foreign film (with or without the subtitles)
• Hang out in a store you’d be embarrassed to be caught in
• Crash a party or happy hour (You get extra points if it’s an industry-specific event for an industry you know little about. Hint: These are constantly taking place in hotel ballrooms.)
• Search for the perfect gift for the weirdest person you know (and who isn’t a close friend)
• Learn to fix something mechanical (e.g., old clock, typewriter, motor)
• Eat at a foreign restaurant where you know nothing about the type of food
• Attend an open mic or beat poetry night
• Go to the most bizarre niche MeetUp group event you can find
• Get to know festival/carnival/fair workers and their stories (Yes, befriending carnies will inspire you. Trust my experience.)
• Volunteer at a food bank
• Spend time in a musical instrument store (if you don’t usually)
• Play with Mad Libs

Read the full article on ways to get unstuck creatively, if you’d like.  If you do, you’ll learn about my “carny days.”