Five celebratory online spaces to inspire curiosity & creativty

Do you ever find yourself browsing through the internet, searching for calming spaces, free from clutter, hyperbole & advertising, places that leave you feeling inspired, a little bit wiser or just plain happy? Such sites are surprisingly difficult to find and whilst, of course, these tastes are entirely subjective, I’ve found over the years several sites that get top marks from me in website aesthetics, creative vision and all, in their different ways, give me something to think about.

I’d love to know: what are your ‘go-to’ clutter-less, inspiring + brilliant sites / podcasts?

C U L T U R E

Maria Popova, editor of the altogether fantastic Brain Pickings, describes herself as a curator of interestingness. Just over thirty years of age, what Popova has created online is nothing short of extraordinary. She spends 450 hours a month working on her website (yes, that really is 15 hours a day) and you feel the passion for her interests & craft jumping out from her writing. Delving into everything from philosophy to literature to psychology to design, Popova collates a great deal of her ‘interestingness’ from offline sources, challenging the ‘temporal bias of the web’ i.e. that just because something is more recent, does that really mean it’s more relevant? The common thread running through all her intelligently researched and beautifully written articles are their very timelessness, often curating inspirational voices and thinkers from the past with an equal relevance to our lives today.

F O O D

Created by a wife & husband team, this great website focuses on nutritious, delicious recipes with a) no more than ten ingredients b) that involve just one pot or c) take less than half an hour to prepare. You can find a combination of starters, main courses, drinks and desserts and the photography is fabulous and mouth-watering. I am not vegan or gluten free and whilst a number of their recipes experiment with this, don’t let this put you off – their predominantly plant-based recipes are innovative, simple and truly tasty. Even my kids give them the thumbs up and, as anyone with young children will know, it’s often not east pleasing little eaters.

F A S H I O N

Unfancy

I discovered Unfancy about a year ago and have been hooked ever since. Caroline’s down-to-earth but also philosophical approach to clothes and how they make us feel about ourselves makes so much sense. As a result of her great site, I now have a ‘capsule-wardrobe’ (click here to read more about that), rotating clothes and having far fewer items in my wardrobe. I have also consciously cut down on buying, spending more on good quality but less often. Whilst my style is not that similar to Caroline’s, it really doesn’t matter – this is a fantastic website & blog for anyone who enjoys thinking about personal style & contentment.

S C I E N C E

Written by Joe Hanson, a Ph.D. biologist and science writer, this is a really fun site filled with engaging you tube videos that he features in himself, clearly explaining some of life’s great scientific questions that will appeal to even those (or especially those?) who were utterly disengaged from science at school. Hanson wants science to be accessible to each and every one of us and through his blog and you tube show, makes it every bit as fascinating as it deserves to be. In his own words:

We must teach science as more than facts. It’s a creative process, it’s an instant injection of wonderment, it’s the excitement we feel at the edge of knowledge. It’s for everyone.

C R A F T

Melissa Wastney

This is a lovely crafty website that comes out of New Zealand. I love looking through what Melissa Wastney makes and although I enjoy making things myself, I’d be unlikely to go to these lengths. But it doesn’t matter. This is a feel-good space in which I can enjoy a crafter’s words, photos and creations vicariously and dream about what I could make one day 😉

I must admit, I am yet to discover a site that makes me feel the same way about the above for my greatest passion: writing. Any suggestions?