Inspiration is a funny thing; it usually strikes when I’m least expecting it.

And I think that’s the secret to it.

For instance, when I’m out walking in the midst of nature, with no headphones on to block out the silence, I begin to focus on the sounds around me. I become aware of dry leaves and twigs crunching under my feet, birds chirping and fluttering from branch to branch, the leaves on the trees rustling every time the breeze blows and the ducks splashing about in a nearby pond.

These are all things that I would never have heard or paid attention to if I had my headphones on while walking.

When my mind is calm and quiet, it wanders. It thinks random thoughts, remembers some old half-baked, semi-conscious stream of thought I might have had once and then discarded, and connects it with something I saw or read or heard today. And then I think, ooh there’s an idea!

That’s how I find inspiration.