If You Always Do What You Always Did ...

... You'll always get what you always got.

I first heard this little ditty a number of years ago at a professional meeting. The idea was to help us think outside the box, be innovative in solving problems. If we can't think of new ideas, the speaker said, we should try driving or walking home by a different route. Or rearrange our office furniture or our furniture at home. Color our hair. Whatever "drastic" action it would take to shake up the status quo in our lives and rearrange stagnant brain cells.

For instance ...

I'm committed to walking first thing in the morning. I feel better, my day (usually) goes better and yes, I feel noble for doing it. (Yeah - I know - it doesn't take much.) Since I dislike walking in extreme or even not so extreme cold or heat, I've become a treadmill walker. Walking on the treadmill also proved addictive - I've become addicted to the instant feedback of the numbers on my LCD screens. It makes me feel like I've worked harder. (I told you it doesn't take much.)

However, several days ago, when I went outside to get the morning paper (yes, I still read a "real" newspaper), I realized that it was a beautiful morning so I decided to walk outside, something I used to do all the time. A funny thing happened. My creative juices started flowing. I'd been pondering today's post for a while and just couldn't seem to get my head around it. The ideas suddenly began to flow, something that hadn't happened in a while 

From there, my thought processes took me to photography. If we always shoot photos the same way, from the same perspective, with the same lens and settings ... we're going to get the same results each time. So let's mix it up today ... longer if you wish, and change our perspective, if you will. Pull out a lens that's been gathering dust. Go to a new location, if possible. Whatever it takes to shake things up.

And, honestly, this isn't just about our creative lives. It's about our lives in general. Whenever I'd come home from work complaining, my husband would ask the same question, "What are you going to do about it?" I would hem and haw and he'd say, "Dotti, if you can't change the [fill in the blank], change your attitude toward it." I think this is good advice for us to remember every day.

How about you? Have you found that this works in your life? In your work? In your art?

Let's change our attitudes, change our perspective, and see what fun things we can find. You might discover a new planet ... or maybe just find a spectacular "Water" photo for our Flickr page.