logo
How to Find Inspiration in New Places

How to Find Inspiration in New Places

The Atlantic26-04-2025
This is an edition of The Wonder Reader, a newsletter in which our editors recommend a set of stories to spark your curiosity and fill you with delight. Sign up here to get it every Saturday morning.
'I am a battery that needs to be often recharged,' Randolph S. Bourne wrote in The Atlantic in 1912. His language of 'recharging' foretold modern-day conversations about what is now called 'self-care.' But rather than the gym or a bubble bath, Bourne was talking about communal activities: 'I require the excitement of friendship; I must have the constant stimulation of friends,' he writes. 'I do not spark automatically, but must have other minds to rub up against, and strike from them by friction the spark that wilt kindle my thoughts.'
None of us spark automatically. We each need a different set of circumstances to encourage inspiration, but the flow of fresh ideas takes work. Today's newsletter explores where inspiration comes from, and where to find it when you're running out of places to look.
On Inspiration
The Excitement of Friendship
By Randolph S. Bourne
'I really live only when I am with my friends.'
Read the article.
How to Be More Creative
By Adam Alter
Breakthroughs are the product of persistence, not magic.
Read the article.
The Rick Rubin Guide to Creativity
By James Parker
Can the legendary record producer's book really make you into an artist?
Read the article.
Still Curious?
The Tchaikovsky cure for worry: If you have anxiety, or simply want a greater sense of well-being, getting creative is just about the best thing you can do, Arthur C. Brooks wrote last year.
Why writers should look back for inspiration: In 2015, English folk singer-songwriter Laura Marling revealed how an appreciation for humanity's history has informed her art.
Other Diversions
P.S.
I recently asked readers to share a photo of something that sparks their sense of awe in the world. 'I spotted these children on our subway, excitedly peering out the train window, even though there was nothing to see,' Pam Y., 67, from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, writes. 'They reminded me to see every new experience as an adventure, and to look for wonder even in dark times.'
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

34 Perplexing Signs That'll Make You Do A Double-Take And Say, "Now Wait A Minute..."
34 Perplexing Signs That'll Make You Do A Double-Take And Say, "Now Wait A Minute..."

Yahoo

time3 hours ago

  • Yahoo

34 Perplexing Signs That'll Make You Do A Double-Take And Say, "Now Wait A Minute..."

this sign actually says: "You can be what you see" vs. what people see at first glance: "You can what you be can see." this sign actually says: "Where everybody is somebody" vs. what people see at first glance: "Where is everybody somebody." this car sign actually says: "50 dates, 50 states" vs. what people see at first glance: "5050 dates states." this sign actually says: "Men to the left because women are always right" vs. what people see at first glance: "Men because women to the are left always right." this mural actually says: "Don't open — closed" vs. what people see at first glance: "Don't closed — open." this sign actually says: "McCrispy Strips are here" vs. what people see at first glance: "McCrispy are strips here." this sign actually says: "HAPPY PRIDE MONTH" vs. what people see at first glance: "HPMAROPINPDTYEH." this graffiti actually says: "We're here, we're queer, we fuck shit up" vs. what people see at first glance: "We're we, here fuck, we're shit, queer up." this sign actually says: "If you're feeling well, you're looking good. Please come on in" vs. what people see at first glance: "If you're feeling please, well come. You're looking good on in." this sign actually says: "Frozen banana dad's original" vs. what people see at first glance: "Frozen dad's banana original." this graffiti actually says: "Love isn't real unless you're real" vs. what people see at first glance: "Love unless isn't you're real real." this ad actually says: "We fix uncomfortable homes!" vs. what people see at first glance: "We uncomfortable fix homes!" this sign actually says: "One nation, under god, indivisible" vs. what people see at first glance: "One under, nation god, indivisible." this sign actually says: "Don't knock, be quiet" vs. what people see at first glance: "Don't be quiet, knock please." this bar actually says: "No added sugar apple cake" vs. what people see at first glance: "No added apple sugar cake." this sign actually says: "Inhale, exhale" vs. what people see at first glance: "Ianlhe, eaxlhe." this poster actually says: "Work smart, not hard" vs. what people see at first glance: "Work not, hard smart." this poster actually says: "Can a cup of coffee change the world?" vs. what people see at first glance: "Can a change cup of the coffee world?" this graffiti actually says: "Education is a scam, fuck school!" vs. what people see at first glance: "Education is a fuck, scam school!" the note actually says: "You are 1 in a million" vs. what people see at first glance: "You are in a 1 million." this sign actually says: "Don't open, bees outside" vs. what people see at first glance: "Don't bees, open outside." this sign actually says: "Live drug free, respect your game" vs. what people see at first glance: "Live respect drug, your free game." this sign actually says: "Save on what matters most, save on what matters most, save on what matters most" vs. what people see at first glance: "Save on save on, what what what, matters matters matters, most most most." this sign actually says: "Apologise for any inconvenience, construction work in progress" vs. what people see at first glance: "Apologise for any construction work, inconvenience in progress." this sign actually says: "Beetlejuice Beetlejuice" vs. what people see at first glance: "Beljieeteuc Beljieeteuc." this sign actually says: "Stop with the dog shit now" vs. what people see at first glance: "Stop the shit with dog now." this sign actually says: "Fire exit only" vs. what people see at first glance: "Feo ixn ril ety." this sign actually says: "First day of 7th grade" vs. what people see at first glance: "First 7th day of grade." this sign actually says: "Don't open, rat inside" vs. what people see at first glance: "Don't rat, open inside." this label actually says: "Ohio Scientific, on/off" vs. what people see at first glance: "Ohio on, scientific off." this mural actually says: "FROM HART-F❤️RD WITH" vs. what people see at first glance: "FRHART-OMF❤️RD WITH." this sign actually says: "Please take off the shoes" vs. what people see at first glance: "Please the shoes take off." this sign actually says: "If we burn, you burn with us" vs. what people see at first glance: "If we burn, you us burn with." finally, what this sign actually says: "This is us. Our home, our life, our story" vs. what people see at first glance: "This our home, is our life, us our story."

New mystery from Gloucester-based author Peter Swanson is a thriller-in-reverse
New mystery from Gloucester-based author Peter Swanson is a thriller-in-reverse

Boston Globe

time4 hours ago

  • Boston Globe

New mystery from Gloucester-based author Peter Swanson is a thriller-in-reverse

One Thursday night in 1997, I was doing homework near the little kitchen TV when 'Seinfeld' started in reverse, and my 15-year-old mind melted. The episode, titled 'The Betrayal,' opened with the Castle Rock logo, followed by end-credits over a freeze-frame. Then, George, Jerry, and Elaine — her face bandaged — hobble into the coffee shop, having clearly been through an ordeal. From there, we go backward, scene by scene, until the opening scene — then even further, to when Jerry met Kramer. It was riveting. I thought of that episode as I began Peter Swanson's Massachusetts-set thriller-in-reverse Advertisement It's 2023, a dinner party at Thom and Wendy Graves's North Shore home, and we quickly learn Wendy wants to kill Thom because of something in their past. When Thom tells guests he's writing a mystery novel, Wendy's blood runs cold. Is he going to reveal what they did? Should she push him down the stairs? Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up From there, we rewind to 2018, then 2013, ending up, eventually, in 1984 when Thom and Wendy meet on an 8th-grade class trip to Washington, D.C. Like many of Swanson's 12 books, it's New England noir — North Shore noir, really — with a comforting Agatha Christie vibe. As a It feels ready-made for the screen and has already been optioned, Swanson says. There's interest from Julia Roberts to star and produce, Advertisement The Carlisle native and best-selling author, 57, spoke with the Globe from his Gloucester home, ahead of his July 8 Q. Writing a story in reverse: how did the idea come to you? A. I'd had the desire to tell a story backwards, which I've been thinking about for years. I thought of the movie ' There's not a ton of stuff that goes purely backwards, but one is a play, 'Betrayal' by Harold Pinter. I saw the movie version with Jeremy Irons and Ben Kingsley. I think I was 15, and it stuck with me. Q. It's funny you mention that: the first thing I thought of reading this was 'The Betrayal' episode of 'Seinfeld,' which I saw at 15. A. What's funny about that episode is, I think there's a character called Pinter, because they're acknowledging the play. Related : Q. A lot of your books take place in New England, often Massachusetts and Maine. A. I write what I know and love. I grew up in Carlisle. My childhood vacations were in southern Maine. I live on the North Shore. New England, in general, makes a good backdrop to a mystery — long winters, moody ocean, maybe slightly reticent people. Advertisement Q. You said you lived in England for a stint growing up. A. We were outside London, in a town called Braintree, when I was 9, 10, 11. Then we moved back to Carlisle. I grew up next to my grandparents' poultry farm. My father was a poultry geneticist. I graduated high school in '86 and Trinity College in Connecticut in '90; I majored in English Lit. I worked at [the now-closed] WordsWorth Books in Harvard Square. Q. Throughout your books, Boston is always Boston, but you have a mix of fictional and real town names. A. I tend to make up small towns. 'New Essex' is a thin veil for Gloucester. 'Kennewick, Maine,' a town I write about often, is an amalgamation of York and Kennebunkport. When you make up your own town, you can decide what it looks like. If there needs to be a bar next to the police station, you don't get an email from a resident saying there's no bar there. Q. Your books are always peppered with '40s and '50s movie references. You must be an old film buff. A. I was a young fan of Alfred Hitchcock. I saw ' Advertisement Q. Also distinct to all your books: Descriptions of meals, drinks, people deciding what restaurant they're going to. Are you a big foodie? A. I am, for sure. That might come from Q. This book has A. I don't overthink it, or over-celebrate, because it's the movie business — a lot of films go into pre-development that don't wind up as pictures. ' Q. Right, some authors have options for years. But do you remember where you were when you found out? A. I was mowing the lawn, and I got this message from my film agent. It's one of those funny things where you're like, Oh, my God, that's so exciting — but you still have to mow the lawn. PETER SWANSON At Harvard Book Store, 1256 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, July 8, at 7 p.m. Lauren Daley can be reached at

Grimes calls Elon Musk's X ‘a prison' while slamming social media: 'The entire thing is a theatre'
Grimes calls Elon Musk's X ‘a prison' while slamming social media: 'The entire thing is a theatre'

San Francisco Chronicle​

time4 hours ago

  • San Francisco Chronicle​

Grimes calls Elon Musk's X ‘a prison' while slamming social media: 'The entire thing is a theatre'

Electronic pop singer Grimes slammed social media platform X, owned by her ex Elon Musk, for its toxicity amid attempts to distance herself from the internet. The 'Oblivion' singer, whose real name is Claire Boucher, recently broke her months-long social media hiatus to note she still feels the negativity of these platforms since briefly logging back on. "Returning here it is overwhelmingly, abundantly and profoundly clear that this place —and all of these places — are a poison — a prison of utterly short form deep deep-sounding nonsense attached to no one that ur brain will discard imaging its learning," she wrote on Monday, July 7. "The entire thing is a theatre. A s— pale simulacra of a life." The post has amassed 650,900 views and 8,700 likes since it was shared on Monday morning. It's unclear when Grimes began disengaging with social media, but she shared a similar post in April announcing she has 'been way more offline lately,' because social media 'feels like a ghost town of depression.' Meanwhile, she has remained creatively active, diverting her attention to making new music. Though Grimes dropped her recent single, 'idgaf,' in February, and performed at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Southern California last year, the singer hasn't released a full album since 2020. But she assured fans in the comment section of her Monday X post that she is 'working very very hard' on her next release. Grimes also revealed Monday that she has been working on music for English DJ and producer Sub Focus, who she previously collaborated with for the unreleased track 'Synchronize.' 'It rly feels like cinematic, like I'm right in Neuromancer,' she said on X, referencing the 1984 science fiction novel by William Gibson. 'It has been so long since I've felt euphoric about dance music that I'm actually disturbed at how disembodied and status oriented music can become.' Grimes and Musk dated for roughly four years and made their red carpet debut as a couple in 2018. They have three children together. Though they officially split in 2022, the singer has frequently used Musk's X to criticize social media and denounce his actions and political views. Earlier this year, she condemned the Tesla CEO for bringing their son X Æ A-Xii, known as Lil X, to the Oval Office for an executive event with President Donald Trump in February. 'He should not be in public like this,' Grimes wrote of their son, who was 4 years old at the time, on X, responding to a user who praised Lil X's manners at the event. 'I did not see this, thank u for alerting me. But I'm glad he was polite. Sigh.' A month earlier, she spoke out on the platform about the viral gesture that Musk made during Trump's inauguration, which many believed resembled a Nazi salute.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store