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We are writers mainly from Australia and New Zealand who write speculative fiction with romantic elements. Be it fantasy, paranormal, dark urban fantasy, futuristic and everything in between.

Sunday 15 February 2015

Enchanted Orb with Nicole Murphy

Nicole Murphy is the writer of science fiction, fantasy, erotica and romance stories. Today she shares her thoughts on Having an Inspired Life.

Having an inspired life with Nicole Murphy
 
 
It’s what we all aim for – an inspired life. That is, I think, a life that excites us. A life that fills uwith anticipation and hope and wonder and delight. One of the reasons that we read, and some of us write, is because the dreams and adventures to be found between the covers of a book are inspiring.

But that want for inspiration can be drowned out by the stresses of life. Work stress. Relationship stress. Financial stress. Vacuuming stress. Oh, the stress of vaccuming… Even writing, which should be such a joy, hits moments of stress and then the inspiration is hard to find.

What can we do, when those times hit us, to find the inspiration again? It’s something I’ve been wondering about lately. 2015 has started busy, and it’s just going to get busier. So I’m trying to work things out, make decisions now that will hopefully help me continue to be inspired even when things get ridiculous.

So I’ve been doing a bit of research, and here’s some of the things that come up regularly in terms of having an inspired life:

Meditation – apparently you don’t have to do masses of it, but five minutes every day can make a huge difference. Not only does it help settle your thinking, it also opens your mind up.

Planning – I know, that sounds absolutely ridiculous, doesn’t it. But here’s what I’ve found – having a weekly plan, where you work out what you’re doing when (both in work and in your general life) actually frees you up. When you enter a time period knowing what you have to do, there’s no mucking around. You just do it. And when you start planning things out, you might find you’ve got more time than you thought you did. And don’t just plan work. Plan your social life. Plan down time.

Have new experiences – being open to new experiences often results in inspiration, not the other way around. So have a look at the year coming up and work out some new experiences you can have, to blow out some of those cobwebs. It can be as simple as trying a food you’ve never done before, to setting yourself a challenge such as learning to play a musical instrument.

Expose yourself to inspiring people – one of the best ways to become inspired is to interact with people who are inspiring. Luckily, in this day and age, we’ve got the opportunity to hear from thousands of inspiring people for free through the TED talks. So why not make finding a TED talk part of your weekly plan, and then give yourself time afterwards to think about it? Or watch it with a loved one, or friends, so you can discuss it afterwards.

Get outside – with computers and phones and tablets and televisions and airconditioning, it’s so easy to stay inside all the time. But for starters, you can miss some all important sunshine that way. And when you do go outside – stop and look around. The old saying ‘Take time to smell the roses’ is so, so true. Except that most modern roses have had the smell bred out of them which makes you wonder why they even exist. But there are other things that smell nice too. Or sound nice. Or feel nice on your skin.

Celebrate your accomplishments – even if they seem small. It’s so much easier to feel inspired when you feel accomplished, and capable. So figure out a way to celebrate everything you do and do it. Even if it’s just to throw on a song and dance like a wild person in your loungeroom. Celebrate!

I’d love to hear ideas you’ve got about ways to become inspired. Let’s building a repository that all of us can refer to during those moments when even when the sun is shining it feels like the world will be forever dark.

Nicole's latest release is Winning the King:

 
About the author

Nicole Murphy writes urban fantasy and science fiction romance, while her alter ego Elizabeth Dunk writes contemporary romance and erotic. Nicole’s latest release is ‘Winning the King’, book two of the Jorda series of science fiction romance. You can buy it here: All Romance ebooks / iTunes / Amazon US / Amazon UK /Google Play / Kobo / Nook / Amazon Aus

 

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