How do you find inspiration?

[Zumi]

So, something I've been wondering is about how people here find inspiration for the things they do or create. What do you do in order to find that small spark of inspiration? I was curious since lately I've had trouble with finding my own, so I'd like to hear other people's views on it.

Usually I just like to listen to music a lot and hope to come across a song that may give me an idea of what I could do, but lately it hasn't be helping me a whole lot, so what do you guys do? :0

[Lupo]

Seeing other people's art usually fills me with creativity, especially the ones in comic form

Though sometimes I'd look up sculptures or concept art of old RPGs ( Morrowind's my fav ) for inspiration

[Exalted]

i read science or history books find something super interesting then im good to go

[Ironbound]

Usually, if you have a domineering grandmother threatening to make your name mud if you fail to live up to her expectations, you have little chance of not being motivated.

In all seriousness, I look at myself, my circumstances and/or my family's circumstances. I want to better them. That is enough of a motivation. For me, gazing into the sky or meditating/reflecting in an open place can act as a good catalyst for such self-motivation.

If it's about art or any other creative work, then I have a habit: each day, before bed, instead of counting sheep or something like that, I think of all the things I have seen or done that day. Some random image that flashes through my half-conscious mind can inspire me to create or act accordingly.

[Flux]

Well, as someone who pretty much only draws inspiration for writing and worldbuilding, I get inspiration from varying sources. Most recently, I got inspiration for a story from an obscure piece of history I found while working on a paper last semester. The history was just the basis for a really small part of my story, but because of that, I was able to create a whole world and a bunch of characters to go with it. But that's kind of an exception case to how I usually work. Usually, I'll just draw a character from scratch and try to think of what kind of world they'd fit in or what kind of story they might be involved in, based purely on appearance and the personality I decide for them. Then I go from there. On occasion I'll be inspired by an anime or other story, some cases being Darker Than Black and Magic: The Gathering.

[Felicity]

I look at other things and then I look at my non-things and make them into things.

[Flynn]

I look for something new. Specifically music. I have a small track of music that fills me with emotion and I use that to promote my passion for writing. However, eventually, the feelings given by those songs become exhausted and less effective. Then, I look across various means of listening to music (99% is YouTube) until I find new music that fills me with any form of inspiration. I gather a new list of songs and use those to fuel my work. And after doing this a few times, the old music I listened to so long ago sounds new and fresh after coming back to it after so long. It's a growing cycle but I never seem to run out of new additions to my playlist.

[mde2001]

I read and look at people around me. I'm a massive eavesdropper on trains so sometimes just hearing things can inspire me.

[Vinny]

I normally get out of my house, take my iPod with me and I sit somewhere, contemplating the landscape while I leave one of my playlists on the back.

If that doesn't work, then I try to contemplate other people's work, depending on what I'm trying to find inspiration for.

And if that doesn't work, I sleep. The best ideas come when you're not doing what you should be doing~

[Jelly]

i stare at dead trees and vividly hallucinate then draw what i see

[BIGJRA]

Probably not as relevant -- but in IB they require you to submit "statements of personal engagement" along with Internal Assessments, which basically are asking you what inspired you to choose to study X topic. Since usually the inspiration for writing the papers, at least for me, is what I can do with the least amount of effort but is still challenging to a degree. They usually want something like this:

As I realized that CaCO3 in eggshells could be reacted with HCl, I also realized that CaCl2 would be produced. Since my family often throws out eggshells, I was contemplating a better use for them. If we had some spare HCl lying around (lol), then we could use our newly created CaCl2 to assist in the production of beer, which (just happens to be) is our family's business!

but, in reality, I usually just consider the convenience factors. If you happened to be reading this topic for sources of inspiration for academic papers hope this helps xD