Inspiration Kick-starters

By Jennifer Hoffman, Editorial Assistant

I have always been a daydreamer, a lover of the imagination.

As a little kid, I would write funny stories starring my best friends or invent new board games. Sometimes I’d spend the afternoon designing my dream home – complete with indoor swimming pools and secret passageways, of course.

When it came time to pick my future career path, the possibilities for creative thinking are what attracted me to public relations:

• Problem-solving and strategizing to produce results that leave a client grinning 
• Considering new outlooks and angles to help me better see the world’s endlessly entertaining points of view 
• Exploring new methods and techniques to keep ideas fresh and the mind nimble

Recently, in my Internet escapades, I’ve come across a few new websites that instantly inspired me. They sent me either clamoring for my box of craft supplies or running to my notebook, eager for the sweet indulgence of a fine-tipped pen and a fresh page of paper.

Deviant Art is a social-networking community for creative types of every kind with galleries galore. Amazing art, photos, prose and crafts abound, enough to make you awe-inspired and ill with envy, all at the same time. Fancy a vampire killing kit? They have that. How about an animation about animation? Well they have that, too.

Offbeat Home is a place for those of us who like taking a walk on the unordinary side to trigger alternative modes of thinking. All sorts of glee-inducing inspiration can be found. If you want to learn more about “government-sponsored zombie preparedness literature,”or how to make “un-bedside tables for book storage,” you will be pleasantly rewarded.

So often I’ve found that inspiration is contagious. The next time you feel a creativity block, take a moment to stop and smell the painted roses.