Improving your shelf life: are you produce or canned food?

Laura Hartman 4

Improving Your Shelf Life: Are You Produce or Canned Food?

Hey there, beautiful humans! I’ve got a fresh perspective for you today, all wrapped up in my latest food analogy. Have you ever wondered if, as a creative, you’re more akin to fresh produce or canned food? Stick with me; I promise this will make sense (and possibly make you hungry).

Introduction: The Grocery Aisle of Creativity

Imagine walking down a grocery aisle. On one side, you’ve got the vivacious, colorful produce – full of life, bursting with vitality, but with a limited shelf life. On the other side, the trusty canned goods. Not as vibrant, but they’re reliable and always there when you’re in a pinch.

In the world of creativity, some of us are produce: brilliant but burning out quickly. Others are canned food: maybe not always as exciting, but consistently delivering and ever-reliable. So which one are you? And more importantly, how can we blend the best of both worlds?

1. Fresh Produce Creativity: The Pros and Cons

Pros:

Spontaneity: Fresh ideas come easily, keeping content vibrant and readers or viewers engaged.
Energy: When you’re on, you’re on. You can churn out content or art at an impressive rate.

Cons:

Burnout: Just like produce can wilt, so can your enthusiasm and energy.
Time-sensitive: If inspiration isn’t acted upon quickly, it can fade or be forgotten.

2. Canned Food Consistency: The Steady Approach

Pros:

Reliability: You’ve got a treasure trove of ideas, saved and stored for future use.
Longevity: No wilting here. Even on off days, you have something to fall back on.

Cons:

Lacks Freshness: Can sometimes feel repetitive or lack the spark of spontaneous creativity.
Complacency: With a stockpile, you might not push yourself to innovate.

3. Recipe for Blending the Best of Both Worlds

Regular Stock Checks: Just as you’d periodically check your pantry, evaluate your creative stores. Toss out stale ideas and stock up on fresh ones.
The Freezer Strategy: Like freezing fresh fruit for smoothies, jot down spontaneous ideas for use later. Apps like Evernote can be your ‘freezer’.
Scheduled Creativity: Allocate specific times for brainstorming fresh ideas, but also schedule regular intervals for revisiting and refining older concepts.
Nutrition Boost: Keep your creative engine running smoothly. Invest time in learning, attending workshops, or simply taking leisurely strolls to feed your inspiration.

The Perfect Meal Plan for Sustained Creativity

Becoming a perfect blend of produce and canned food means harnessing the vibrancy and immediacy of fresh creativity while also cultivating a reservoir of steady, reliable content for the leaner times. It’s like ensuring you always have both fresh salad and canned soup at your disposal.

Remember, your creativity, just like food, requires careful handling to ensure its longevity. So next time you’re shopping (or brainstorming), think about how you can get the best of both the produce and canned aisles. Because honestly, who doesn’t want to be the perfect blend of fresh and reliable? 🍏🥫💡

PS. What’s your expiration date?

Are you current, fresh, hip, and now? That’s fantastic! But remember, today’s hottest trends can easily become tomorrow’s retro throwbacks. If you’re super current now, be prepared that in a few years, you might be labeled ‘quirky’ or ‘vintage’ (which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, if you ask me).

Laura Hartman

Creativity is my passion. I love helping artists and writers to develop their unique voice and gifts! I write and organize guest posts, and research useful content and articles for Creativindie, with an eye on SEO and boosting traffic. I focus mostly on arts, crafts and graphic design.