Read, Watch, Attend: Mel Arrow on committing to inspire her brain

I think inspiration is about continuously committing to putting new and interesting things in your eyes, ears, nose and mouth…and yes, I have phrased that deliberately to make it sound rude. So that, in short, is what I try to do. Primarily: 

By reading.

Endlessly. Mostly books, newspapers and magazines. Mostly physical, because 50 per cent less inspiration is transmitted from a screen. This is science. The London Review of Books is a particular favourite of mine. Those who read it know that it is not, in fact, just a review of books. It includes a series of incredibly well-researched dissertations, compiled using insights from recently launched books. Read Get a Rabbit about the collection, analysis and power of data in society, then talk to me about the three million data points collected, by hand, during every football match and tell me your mind hasn’t been blown. 

By watching.

Aside from films, TV and intricately staged marble runs on Youtube, my favourite thing to watch is my husband (from inside the house, in a totally above board manner). I watch him play games, and occasionally I join in, but mostly I’m a backseat gamer who says things like “try picking that up” or “oh, you can’t jump on that? That’s a shame”. The last thing I vaguely participated in playing was “Thank Goodness You’re Here!” ; a funny and slightly gross romp through a fictional version of Yorkshire. 

By attending.

I love buying tickets to things. Sometimes I wonder if it’s the buying of the tickets rather than the events themselves that I enjoy the most. I often buy so many tickets that I forget about them until 30 minutes after the thing the tickets are for has started. Coming up: Inside Number 9 Stage/Fright, Frankie Monroe, The Years, The Little Foxes, The Unicorn, and unfortunately, not You Me Bum Bum Train (I did it a decade ago and it changed everything…did anyone reading this get tickets?!). Many years ago, at BBH, every time you switched on your computer, a message appeared that said: “Do interesting things and interesting things will happen to you”. I think about it a lot. And I try to do it. 

Mel Arrow is CSO at McCann London