I Can Haz Writers Block? Inexpensive Cures

There is nothing quite like the combination of a seemingly never-ending cold, a horribly depressing news cycle and a spending two months coding an e-commerce website (when you typically spend that time working on marketing projects) to sap all the creativity out of a girl faster than my cat sneaks out the front door.

When the world is getting me down, I remember how fortunate I am to have things so many others are struggling with in these days: work in my field, a house with fixed-rate mortgage, a healthy family, and luckily considering my appendicitis attack earlier this year, health insurance. Historically, times of great economic stress, such as the Great Depression provided the world with an outpouring of arguably some of the best art, film, and literature we had seen. The same thing is happening today. People may be cutting their spending on eating out, but they still are going to movies in record breaking numbers. Essentially, in crisis, people look for beauty and escape to get them through the reality of their everyday.

What cheap-ish thrills get my creative engine going again when I am feeling zapped?
1. For me, the answer is first and foremost always books. If your shelves are falling over like mine, I highly recommend a swap site like Bookins, which lets you send books to other people for free and get new books for $4 in postage. Don't forget, libraries are free, and Borders does not charge a "browsing fee."

2. Music: Thank heaven for Music Swapping Sites, iTunes and community radio (88.5 Radio-Active Tampa!) and cheap local shows. While I love music with a passion, I am lucky in that my husband "J" does the heavy lifting, providing me with a constant stream of new music and dragging me to shows even on the days I don't feel like going out. Concerts don't always have to cost $60. Check your local papers and community radio stations for free shows and low-cost options. It's always a better story to say "I saw them at a bar with 50 people before they were famous" anyway. J has LOTS of those stories.

3. Humor: No shocker here, besides beautiful films, I am drawn to the absurd and humorous in television and film when down. Cheap(ish) thrills- NetFlix, basic cable and our trusty DVR filled with the Daily Show and Colbert Report from the previous evening, since I am a nerd and go to sleep by 10pm. That being said, I will close with this clip from last week's SNL, which had me in tears of laughter, despite a fever. Warning: it is advisable to use the potty before viewing.