Creativity – inside my head.

What does your creativity process look like? Mine is a mess. A complete mess. Words. Colors. Question marks and exclamation points. Circles and arrows and conclusions that seem completely out of place for an inexperienced eye, but make total sense to the brain behind them, i.e. me.

It's important to learn how to let your ideas grow; accept what works for you. A teacher once told me that creativity is nothing we can ever run out of, but that we get more of it, the more we use it. Thus, when it comes to me – as it sometimes does unexpectedly and sometimes by forcing it – I just let it flow and I don't care about the mess.

 It looks a little bit like this.

Write your own script.

I like watching people. I often wonder what they are doing, where they are going, where they have been and if they are happy. I think of people as their own movies. Everybody has a story to tell. Everybody has a soundtrack to accompany them. But how about a genre?

Are we born into a predestined genre that becomes the story of our lives? Sometimes I think yes. Oftentimes I hope no. There must be ways to fool the dramaturgy and have it all take unexpected turns. Right?

The best movies are those that surprise us. Those that suddenly become something we never could have imagined. Those that bring us characters we didn't even knew existed and deliver lines we never dreamed of uttering. Those kind of movies happen when we step over the line, look around the corner and listen carefully to the world around us.

Do you sometimes feel like you are stuck in a genre where you should not be? What can be done about that? Hey, let's try to pause for a moment and think about what you would normally do. Write it down and then, when you press Play again, throw away the note and do the exact opposite of what was written on it.

Write the script as you want it to be, not as it always has been.

Dancing in the rain.

When encountering a seemingly hopeless situation you can either A: Watch an entire series of Mad Men and eat a lot of doughnuts or B: Get your ass – sorry, I mean act – together and start learning how to dance in the rain and jump over the puddles.

I watched one episode of Mad Men and had one doughnut for breakfast (completely justified, given the circumstances, actually, never mind, that kind of behavior is always justified). And you know what? Now I feel great.

Spring is in the air, so let me vault over all the obstacles and dance around as I usually do. Hopelessness? That's just silly. Everybody knows that the hope is the last thing to leave your body. And the last time I checked, I was fully alive and kicking.

Cheers mate!

Please, find the important message.

This is how it turned out.

My Saturday. This is how it turned out in the end. After a 4.35 mile run, an emotional roller coaster, lots of egg for breakfast and an episode of Mad Men, I grabbed my bag and took the metro to King Street. I wanted to explore the Masonic Memorial, but because they had a special event on the first floor, they would only allow me to enter if I paid for a tour. I was not in tourist tour mood, so I just enjoyed the view and kept walking down to Old Town Alexandria.

Old Town Alexandria is like southern France and northern Italy, with downtown DC just across the river. Thrift shops, bakeries, boutiques, cafés and restaurants of all kinds. A colorful mix of all the eye candy you could ever wish for. I love the atmosphere of this area and was satisfied just strolling down King Street, the main road taking you all the way down to the little harbor.

Sun in my eyes. A car driving by, Bob Marley singing "Don't you worry 'bout a thing. Every little thing's gonna be alright." And I guess it will be. Things always turn out alright in the end. Life is beautiful.

Wake up! What's your reason?

Saturday morning. I woke up an hour ago, but still haven't left my bed. It's grey, cold and rainy outside, but there has got to be some reason to get up. Unfortunately, I have no chocolate in stock, so I haven't quite figured out my reason just yet, but I'm sure I'll come up with something.

I haven't decided what to do with this day, but an indoor activity, like visiting a museum, seems appealing and appropriate. As terrifying and heartbreaking as it is, I might take a day off from my love, my Mac.

This might be a good day for strolling in the real world. Disconnect from technology and rest from the screen. Why not? That might be my reason to stay awake – the beauty behind the screen. Life. DC.

My addiction, but the annoying stereotype.

I read an interesting story about Pinterest the other day. Actually, I have been reading so much about Pinterest these last few days I feel like I know all the ins and outs. Without a doubt, the whole phenomenon is very (p)interesting and I, myself, am absolutely addicted. When you need to fill your social media quota but are too tired to read tweets or compose blog posts – all hail online bulletin board Pinterest!

However, there is something about this Pinterest hysteria that bothers me and reading the article called "How Pinterest's Female Audience Is Changing Social Marketing" made me understand what.

87% of the users are women. Women stand for 97% of the site's Facebook "Likes." This is how women use the site and that is what they post. And now, here is how women will change social marketing; it will become friendlier. Because women are friendly and build relationships. They don't "do business" (and when they do, they are "bitches").

There is something so very tiring about this constant labeling of men and women. Year 2012, we still have to distinguish between male and female consumerism, interests and behavior. And as soon as women take over, it will change everything we have previously known. Doesn't that imply that we have been, up until now, doing it the "male" way, all according to how men wants it to be done?

What is what? When will people just become people? Never, I think. Because I believe it's human nature to want to categorize. And where is better to start than among ourselves. OR! On Pinterest. Yea, stop thinking about this tiring topic. Go ahead and organize your Pinboards instead. Whether you're a man or a woman.

Note to self: Work it out.

I need to remind myself that I'm never more than a workout away from a good mood. It works like a charm – to work it out and work it off. Hard work, work, work. Today, my legs wanted to run and my arms wanted to lift.

Remember, brain works better if body gets to work out. Work, work, work OUT!

What have you been doing today?

I have been filing papers. I have been reading previously bookmarked articles. I have been Pinning. I have been throwing away things I don't need. I have been cleaning up where cleaning needed to be done. I have been drinking coffee and eating chocolate. I have been writing down ideas. I have been going through my calendar.

And now, I am going to the gym. Later on? Don't know exactly, but it will absolutely be something that matters. That's what it's all about. Making your days good for you and hopefully also those around you.

Happy Friday, people. Make it a good one. Make it count.

They say that it's Spring Break...

...but I don't really know what that means.

Yesterday, it was spring, for sure, I get that part. The warm feeling in the air, happy people in the park and sun kissing my skin made the day so much lighter. But a break? What for?

As I'm now more an intern than I am a student, I don't feel like I need a break. My break is every single day. My break is when I get up, go to work, fulfill my duties and take notes of all the ideas that pop up in my head. My break is when my mind is busy focusing on now rather than later.

Now, this Spring Break week, I really have to deal with later. Be creative. Make decisions. Write down ideas and figure out how all ends are going to be able to meet. Not so very breaky, but absolutely necessary.

Spring Break. Whatever. Me and my roommates like to take every opportunity to celebrate and did so yesterday by visiting Kramerbooks & Afterwords (apparently we are now officially Washingtonians), browsing along the aisles at Barnes & Noble, ending the night in laughter and tears watching The Descendants. That's what I call taking a break. Lovely night with lovely ladies.

Books and Food. What a delicious combo.

We found the right section.

Have no fear.