When I stay around my home base too long I notice that my ideas and thoughts become a bit stale, creativity wanes and I tend to think along self established lines. Whether you do the same comfortable job for a bunch of years, don't get out much, forget to invite people over from time to time, we all tend to get a bit stuck periodically. So we all need inspiration from outside, fresh blood so-to-speak. Travelling is a great way to see something completely different if you challenge yourself and travel outside of your comfort zone. People can be a great inspiration and their ideas can give you a jolt out of whatever thinking modality you may be stuck in, whether in the simple form of socializing or in the more formal form of attending a workshop or conference. Nature is a wonderful teacher, and animals can be as well - walking the Appalachian Trail or swimming with the dolphins for extremes.

I make it a point to attend at least one inspirational conference each year so I can bring fresh ideas to my blog and book-in-the-making. Two falls ago I attended Omega Institute's Sustainability Conference, last fall I went to Local Future's Voice of Hope in a Time of Crisis conference. I am looking forward to his coming week-end's Hay House I Can Do it! conference. What are you doing to dust off your mind?