Inspiring Creativity...

Most of the time just looking at Tootsie Roll inspires me in some way!  Her cocked head and ability to be so alert one minute and snoring the next help to remind me that life goes on one thing after the next.  I know, some question if dogs have an awareness of time...I don't know the answer to that thought; I just know that I can learn a lot and be inspired in all kinds of ways by just taking a minute to observe!  

Right now I am looking for some inspiration for our two new Spring Line items...yes, I know spring is a few weeks in so I am a little behind...I can deal with that;  spring happens every year!    But we are working on raincoats and a fold up water bowl and chow bag....Hmm...so what do I call them, what story do I put with them?????  Well, if you are looking for some inspiration as well, I found these handy tips:

-experience fuels creativity
-routines help spark creativity
-write ideas down as they come to you
-keep them organized to look for patterns
-if you are in a rut, try a new routine or thing
-practice being creative

Good ideas and things I typically practice.  So I also looked for books that help inspire creativity.  Now keep in mind that my reading tastes are not very expansive...Yes, I know some things about Spanish and Latin American literature, but I tend to keep my reading pretty simple now-a-days.  I did however come across a book that I am going to add to my iPad titled, "The Alchemist" by Brazilian author Paulo Coelho.

"My heart is afraid that it will have to suffer," the boy told the alchemist one night as they looked up at the moonless sky." Tell your heart that the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself. And that no heart has ever suffered when it goes in search of its dreams."

The Alchemist is the magical story of Santiago, an Andalusian shepherd boy who yearns to travel in search of a worldly treasure as extravagant as any ever found. From his home in Spain he journeys to the markets of Tangiers and across the Egyptian desert to a fateful encounter with the alchemist.

The story of the treasures Santiago finds along the way teaches us, as only a few stories have done, about the essential wisdom of listening to our hearts, learning to read the omens strewn along life's path, and, above all, following our dreams.

Every few decades a book is published that changes the lives of its readers forever. The Alchemist is such a book. With over a million and a half copies sold around the world, The Alchemist has already established itself as a modern classic, universally admired. Paulo Coelho's charming fable, now available in English for the first time, will enchant and inspire an even wider audience of readers for generations to come.

In the meantime, I am going to research songs about rain to get going on a name and story behind the TootsUncommon raincoat!!