Creative environments
This month’s Indie Web Carnival, hosted by Juha-Matti Santala, has the theme “Creative Environments”, and it got me thinking. For me, the importance of my environment has changed radically over the years.
In the past, I always used a computer to write, and I needed a quiet space. Otherwise, I could hardly get anything done. It was very restrictive, to say the least.
These days, the location isn’t so important. I enjoy writing in coffee shops, but the bus or my home works just as well. In fact, I’m writing this on my phone, sitting in the shade at a burger joint in my hometown of Stockholm, sipping a beer.
Quiet or not doesn’t matter that much either. I find that background chatter can actually enhance creativity. If it gets too loud, I just plug in my AirPods and put on my personalized radio station on Apple Music.
Whether I write on my computer or my phone, I like to have a clean, distraction-free digital space. Since I use Markdown for my blog, I prefer an editor that supports it, like iA Writer.
But I’ve found that my creativity sparks most when I’m out living life. Working, meeting people, exercising, reading books, watching movies, and discovering new places. No physical environment in the world could ever compensate for that.
Whatever our preferences are, I think the most important thing is to stay curious.