the inspirational interwebs

Last week, after discussing my thoughts on Motivational Jealousy, The Man and I got into a conversation about inspiration, and the overwhelming, endless amount of it found on the wonderfully terrifying internet.

I am a blog addict.  The list of sites I follow is always growing, but rarely edited.  From home décor to fashion, life style and d.i.y. I love it all.  All that inspiration is amazing and beautiful and there's always something to give you new ideas and it's exciting and clever and beautiful and never-ending and…stifling.

I have this problem where if I see something a person has made, even if it is an idea I've had previous to seeing it, this thought goes through my mind that it's already out there in the world and there is no point in recreating it.…I give up before I even start. Isn't that sad? After a while it's hard to remember what was yours and what you picked up from out there. Of course, as you learn in art school, there are no new ideas, and even if you recreate something you’ve already seen it will always be different because your style/method/hand is different. But still, there is this "damn! If only I had done it first" thought.  It's similar to the "why didn't I think of that" thought, except you did, you just didn't act on it.  

I love blogs and pinterest and perusing artists' websites but I think it might be time to take a step back (wait,  I didn't realize where this rant was going, am I really going to take web break? I love the Internet!)

The internet can be a great tool when used properly, but when your need for a creative outlet gets taken over by pages and pages of mindless images it’s time for a change.

And that’s where our conversation lead me.  The realization that I need to focus more on my own creativity rather than being in awe of others'.  I have this annoying affliction where everything I see I think to myself "well, I could do that," but when was the last time I actually did? So The Man gave me an assignment to get me out of my inspiration-overload-non-creative slump.  I started last Tuesday, and I’m really excited about it. 

... and I’ll tell you more about that later!!

p.s. blog headers pulled from:
SF Girl By Bay
Gems
Junkaholique
The Design Files
Keiko Lynn
Design Love Fest
Oh Happy Day
House Tweaking
In The Make
Little Green Notebook
Design Sponge
Atlantic Pacific
Bleubird
A Cup Of Jo