One of my favorite blogging communities to find great photos and peeks at cool stuff I wouldn’t normally come across is tumblr.  I especially love the combination of visual and printed art that people find or come up with.

I’m the kind of writer that loves visual inspiration.  I’ve found that most writers are.  Art forms can also offer a nice break, and a revitalization of the right brain and emotional aspect of writing.

Having a specific niche and a niche name for yourself on “tumblr.” is helpful, especially if you plan on having followers. And like anywhere else, you can follow anyone you want. Most tumblrs don’t use their real names, though they might let you know who they are. Instead you’ll find Lit*Chick, dressed-in-poetry, Miss Wallflower, Paperbowlsnlemons, and playswithscissors, or dontsettleforless.  Tumblr certainly allows for a peek into one aspect or other of one’s personal side (best if done in niche form).

It’s easier to find people to follow on tumblr, though, than most communities I’ve visted or belonged to because of the ease of the keyword searching they offer. While your own tumblr may have one niche (or maybe you have a few tumblrs, each their own niche) you can follow any niche or tumblr you want.  Sound confusing?  It’s a lot simpler than you’d expect, and once you’re in, it’s easy to get hooked. 

In between photo sharing and link sharing, tumblrs will express a momentary emotion, usually short and sweet, usually in question form.  It was one such emotional blurt that inspired this post.  Someone asked why people didn’t read books more often, or have a consentration span of more than five minutes.   I’d asked myself that question before, only to become very well aware of the millions and millions of people out there that do love to read, that love to write, that love to create, and who will sit through foreign films, will spend hours browsing photos on tumblr, days creating the perfect layout or web page, and who will cook for hours a meal that will be eaten by close friends and family in 20 minutes time.  And shortly after reading her tumblr post, I came across this one.  I had to laugh.  And I had to share.

I call it “Mental Workout”… and I like the look. Very fashionable.