Dear friend,
I don’t know about you, but when I’m getting stuck in a rut I tend to be super enamored with the shiny new planners, tools, projects…whatever looks new and usually comes with a price tag.
Sadly, my broke student bank account can’t sustain such a practice. Using the free resources you already have access to is less glamourous but definitely easier in the long run.
Besides, some of the best pieces of inspiration are absolutely and totally free.
1. Pinterest
I’m sure I’ve mentioned it before, but Pinterest is one of my favorite places to get a quick and easy dash of inspiration. Some of my favorite art and stories have been inspired by something I saw on Pinterest.
I do recommend using a timer before opening the Pandora’s box that is Pinterest to decrease the risk of getting sucked into the endless scroll of doom and capitalize on that beautiful moment of inspiration.
2. Exercise
I know you bookish types are groaning, or rolling your eyes, or wrinkling your nose at me. I think you should hear me out because I am one of you. You may be surprised but getting up and taking a short walk, dancing to a song (this one is fun), or doing a few jumping jacks can make all the difference. That little bit of movement can freshen up your brain activity to think of the solution to that plot hole, figure out what your next art project should be, or just feel ready to do that thing you were dreading five minutes ago.
3. Books
Not all books are free, especially that one your friend recommended the other day and sounds really good, but darn, it just came out and isn’t at the library yet.
Libraries are free books. And if your library doesn’t have the thing you’re looking for, usually you can request the book from another library, and they’ll lend it to you. Many libraries have Libby or Hoopla if you are keen on ebooks and audiobooks. If you are into classics and old books (anything in public domain), the Gutenberg Project has thousands of books.
One of my favorite options for free books, though, is giveaways. There are so many authors who run giveaways and it’s so much fun when you do win a book. Goodreads constantly runs giveaways, and many authors post on social media (mostly Instagram) when they are giving away one of their books.
In fact, I happen to know of a giveaway that is happening right now.
The Pearl online magazine is giving away actual physical books (even better than ebooks)!
Every week for the next twelve weeks, you have the chance to win your next source of inspiration. This week, the book is Every Bush Afire by Kyle Peters, but you can enter every week for a chance to win something different.
That’s pretty cool, right?
What are you still doing here? Use the free resources I’ve just given you and go check it out!
Sincerely,
R.J. Catlin
