MOJO Missing?

Is your MOJO Missing?

Wait, you want to know what MOJO is?  Well, it means a variety of things, it seems.  Here are a few:

From Wickipedia:

• Mojo (comics), a supervillain in various Marvel Comics publications
• Mojo, a board game
• Mojo!, a sweet available in the UK in the 1970s
• Mojo!, a video game
• Mojo, a fictional helper monkey in The Simpsons
• AND, the list goes on, and on, and on

From Urban Dictionary:

• The word originally means a charm or a spell. But now its more commonly said meaning sex appeal or talent.
• Self-confidence, Self-assuredness. As in basis for belief in ones self in a situation.
• Good luck fetish / charm to bolster confidence.
• Ability to bounce back from a debilitating trauma and negative attitude.
• That quality, often elusive, that sets a person apart from everyone else. The word "magic" could, almost without exception, replace "mojo" it in all of its contexts, sentences, and/or applications. 

I like the last definition:  "Magic"

Whenever I make a card, scrapbook page, or 3-D item, I always feel like it was MAGICAL coming up with the design and pulling it all together.  When that MAGIC disappears, even for a day, I feel bereft, alone, and off balance.

Ellen B. listed several great ways to get that MOJO going again.  Hope these ideas help to get your MOJO inspired and your MAGIC flowing!

Lost your mojo?

It’s a terrible feeling when you sit down with your ink (in all those colors!) and stamps (wonderful, wonderful stamps) and paper (lovely, incredible, luscious)…. And nothing happens.

Nothing.

Nada.

Zip.

Zero.

Zilch.

Not one drop of inspiration, one iota of mojo.

We’ve all been there. But how do we get OUT of it?  In general, I've found that my mojo can be wooed and enticed back to me, but it can't be coerced.

Here are some tips on finding your mojo again. I hope they help you the next time your mojo is playing hide & seek with you.

Treat yourself right.

Make sure you are getting enough sleep. This may sound like an odd thing, but I believe that lack of sleep dulls not only our brain, but all of our senses. 

Along with this, make sure you are getting proper nutrition and exercise.  Now, mind you, I’m no health freak J, but I have found that if I start loading up on fruits and vegetables instead of sugar and processed foods, my mood improves and so does my mental capacity.

Change it up

Clean you workspace. Put away distractions and give yourself room to spread out and enjoy the process.

Try a change of scenery. Usually stamp in a spare bedroom? Move it to the kitchen. Take advantage of nice weather and stamp outside. Go to a coffee shop, enjoy the heady aroma, and stamp away.

If you are stuck trying to come up with something for your blog, a class, a submission, do something entirely different. Stamp just for the fun of it. Pull out one of those retired sets you didn't sell because you love it so much, but you haven't used since it retired. PLAY.

Do something creative that isn't stamping-related (gasp!). Bead, knit, cook, play piano. The idea is to wake up the creative spirit. 

“Just do it”. I often tell my customers and students that creativity is a muscle. Like any muscle, it needs to be used to stay toned and fit, and the more it’s used the more it develops. Ideas for “just do it”:

CASE something. Then something else. Then another thing….

Respond to a challenge – either one of ours, or find another. Here’s a blog that carries a list of challenges: http://dailydare4u.blogspot.com  I also subscribe to a few other blogs that offer regular challenges and my preference is for layout or color challenges; you might prefer a theme challenge.

Make a sheet of background paper, then use it on some projects

Limit yourself. We can get overwhelmed by too many choices. Some ideas for this:

Pick ONE or TWO sets. Challenge yourself to work with these sets, and to make at least 3 different things with them

Pick one kind of embellishment, and work with that

Use the Color Coach to choose a palette, and work within that palette

Stretch yourself / Refresh yourself

When was the last time you learned a new technique? Pick one or a few, but get in there and get your fingers inky. Pat Huntoon’s Technique Junkie newsletter and CDs are a wonderful way to learn something new (http://www.techniquejunkies.com/)

Try a new-to- you product

Teach yourself a new and funky fold on a card

Pull out one of those things that you had to have but have never used (yep, you know what I mean) and USE it. New tool? Figure out how to use it. New color? Find at least 2 color combinations you like with it

Step away from the computer. Don’t spend so much time looking for inspiration. Sometimes, seeing all those other great creations out there saps our own creativity.

Turn to the inspiration notebook you've been keeping, and take a quick look through, then jump in and try something.

Hope you find your MOJO today and are back to creating all the fantastic projects you usually make!