lately…

I keep an inspiration folder on my desktop and a list of bookmarks about a mile long.  They’re like treasure chests collecting pretty things and every so often, I scroll down my favorites and open the folder and dip my fingers in for gems of inspiration.  Allowing my mind to wander is part of the creative process (research, people, research) and I fill the well by seeking beauty.  However, the line between research and procrastination can sometimes get blurred and I need to learn to use inspiration as fuel for action.  Discipline has never been mon point fort.

Here are a few things that have been inspiring me (or making me happy) lately.

Reading an awesome book.

Jen Zahigian’s photography is retro goodness.

Listening to this song by Scattered Trees.

This video makes me want to book a plane ticket and take off for a year.

For laughter, press here.

Apartment Therapy is, indeed, therapeutic.  Particularly this color contest.

Everything at Anthropology is the shiznit.

I cannot wait to see this movie and this one.

Black Phoenix Alchemical Lab is a feast for the olfactory sense.

On a totally nerdy level, the Google Chrome browser and its inspect element feature are rocking my world.

Loving this print.  This summer I became a cycling addict (not in the athletic sense, more as a wicked means of transportation).  My bicycle takes me everywhere in record time.  Her name is Bonanza Jellybean.  She’s like lightning.

Forts.  They’re awesome.  The last time I made a fort was on my 14th birthday.  I was supposed to go have a picnic and see a baseball game with my family but it was a miserable, gray, rainy day.  So instead, my mom, sisters and I built a fort in the living room with chairs and blankets and we had us a little picnic under there.  There’s just something about forts that is comforting.  I’m thinking perhaps I should build myself an inspiration fort this winter, a space with all my favorite things, a place to retreat to when the days get shorter.  Hmm. Fort for thought.  And there it is folks, the cheesy pun that tells me it’s time to end this post.

What is inspiring you these days?  Where do you go to find beauty?