I love going out of town.  A different place with a different look can be so inspirational.  Unfortunately for me, our most recent vacation spot was at the beach where all the graphics on display were either gaudy or cheap.  Nevertheless, inspirations abounded and ideas were conceived.  But heading out of town is not the only means by which one can receive trendy inspiration.  Inspiration is everywhere!  Here are some of my favorite places to find inspiration.

Movies

While we were in our condo, we convinced our son to watch some TV while waiting to go to the beach.  We don't watch "TV" in our house; we watch movies.  He was very confused when a commercial came one in the middle of a program, and then he asked to turn it off completely.  Commercials and program directors have a knack for disrupting one's train of thought.  That's one of the many reasons I prefer movies.  Movies give you time to think, learn the characters and actually develop the plot.  In the midst, you just might find yourself inspired.  If you need some place to start, try something like My Left Foot.

Blogs

We just keep coming back to this, don't we?  It keeps being relevant, folks!  Not only is blog-reading something easy enough to do (even on vacation) it's helpful too.  Reading blogs of other people in your industry is a great way to receive inspiration. Take in ideas that other people have had.  Expand and personalize those ideas.  Streamline and trim those ideas until it is perfectly fine tuned.  I like to keep an eye on InspiredMagaize and LittleBoxOfIdeas.

Art

We had planned on going to the Museum while on our trip before checking into the condo.  Adding two kids to the drive caused more delays than planned.  So, we never made it to the art museum.  The good news is that a museum isn't the only place to appreciate art.  Google is great for that.  In fact, Google Images is even better.  This is a great way to see art from well know artists like Vango and Dali as well as artists you may not know like Lisa Brown or Zdzislaw Beksinski.

Sky

Call me crazy, but seriously go look up at the sky.  Night or day there is nothing more inspirational than that!  It declares, no, proclaims inspiration; it shouts it from the highest of places.  The sky is the inspiration for many great works of art and literature, for the adoption of both fear and comfort, for the awareness and appreciation of truth.  The sky is truly an inspirational thing.  John Piper once said it "doesn't whisper--it shouts" and inspired men and women agree with him.

So go to a coffee house, put on some music, check out a book, play with your kid or simply look up.  Inspiration is everywhere!  Don't miss it.