This trend was everywhere in the early 90s. Shelter magazines always had at least one bedroom with the word 'dream' on the wall.

I think if you make your own personal inspiration, it's cool, but these store-bought ones are just the zen equivalent of needlepoint samplers with folksy sayings.

i've never understood those rocks...

personally, i don't need a rock or a breadbox with the word "Inspire" on it to feel motivated. If I were into motivational decor, it would probably be more of a custom style tray/board - examples of things that actually do motivate you would work a helluva lot better than Successories decor

If all it takes to inspire you is a rock with words on it in a bowl, you probably don't need the rock. Still, if it floats your boat, why not? Certainly my mother's cheap fridge magnet, with "To Hell With the Housework", which went with us whenever we moved, made each new place home.

I agree w/ Lisa--

Kinda dated, rather lame...
...and only one step away from those "inspirational" posters with quotes in so many workplaces.

(Like a picture of skydivers captioned with "Teamwork" is going to make me relate better w/ my co-workers?
More like make me run screaming before I smack the dimwit in the next office regaling us with his graphic ramblings about his weekend of debauchery in Vegas...)

Agreed, very 90's. It's fairly tacky too that you're personal inspirational, word rock is duplicated exactly the same in commercial numbers.

When I was growing up, my mother had hung a needle point she made on the wall across from the toilet, which said "Love is like a gentle rose." So, every time someone would visit the restroom, they'd think about that vastly ambiguous statement. I still can't figure the meaning.

It seems I'm in the minority, but I like a little uplifting message to help brighten my day. Mass produced ones are blah, but sometimes there can be a word or phrase that is calming specifically to you. My mom has "breathe and remember", which always slows down my brain chatter. My neighbor painted "

Meh, I'm not so fond of them, at least not decor like the rocks and "Dream" signage. I think back to the 90's, and how EVERYONE seemed to have them, and it seems a little tacky.

I find prefer to surround myself with a slightly more subtle inspiration, I guess.

Yes, I agree. Ilike home/hand made ones, or individualised ones. But I find the generic ones not only a bit declasse, but kind of depressing - if you have to buy your inspiration at a dollar store, it's a bit sad.

However, if someone has put love and effort and thought into it, it sort of transforms it. Like lissiebowerman says, sometimes we need a reminder. And if it's soemthignt aht has particular meaning to you, all the better!

I also like ones that are a bit subversive - have you seen subversive cross stitch? A bit of snark never hurt anyone :)

Painted rocks, AT? Seriously?

I'm also tired of the words & phrases trend in decorating, including those wall graphics people use to designate spaces/rooms ("dream", "play", "eat"...what, you need directions?) and prints that have drippy-sweet messages about how much you're loved, or how special each day is, or whatever gushing, ego-stroking phrase is du jour.

Does inspiration have to be so literal?

Um...let's hope this trend goes the way of the pet rock...

Words of inspiration/philosophical opinions on rocks, walls, posters, T-shirts...etc., are beyond precious...to embarrassingly corny.

inspirational? more like mind numbing.

Personally, every time I see those laser-cut "inspire" rocks I want to shoot myself.

I'm intensely curious, as I have been ever since this fad started, to know who *doesn't* want to shoot themselves upon seeing those rocks. Really? People pay money for those? WHO?

I'm not someone categorically opposed to text-based motivational decor, either.

It's not the medium I mind; it's the nauseating sentiments. Ever since people have been wearing those egregious "Live Love Laugh" necklaces, my mother and I have joked about t-shirts/wall decals/posters that say things like "Get a Grip" or "Be Frank, Not Earnest".

If my 'friends or family' had these around the house I would question their sanity.

It's very interesting all the negativity toward inspiration.
Just sayin....

These comments are pretty harsh. I think what they were asking in the original post is how some people have taken an old "outdated" idea and made it new again. It's a universal design inevitability that old trends are reinvented to make new ones.

I'm not into those tacky, huge motivational posters that were popular in the nineties, but I love word art. I would think motivational phrases, words, and quotes that mean something to you personally, like some others have said, can freshen the concept of slapping mass marketed words on the wall. For example, I have a "Create" sign in my home office, alongside several pieces of visual art that also make me *think* "create."

Words are powerful in and of themselves; this trend is only cheesy when they're slapped up for the sake of design. That's when they become meaningless.

It's funny, I just saw these the other night at a friend's BBQ in her garden. I am also not a fan of these signs but somehow in her garden, amongst the flowers, they worked.

Both dated AND lame! We sell similar ones printed on semi-precious crystals at the new age hippie bookstore I work at, and I'm always surprised each time someone oohs and ahhs over them, and then drops $5 for a rock with a word on it.

That said, we used to get ones that were misspelled and those were AWESOME! My boss has a ton of misprinted rocks, for eg. "Celebrace", "Tanks", "Enthusasm" and "Anger" (instead of Angel.) Super classic.

If someone feels inspired or calmed by this stuff, then so what? It may not be my taste, but then who cares what I think. Frankly, my mom has framed "Serenity Prayer" and "Footprints in the Sand" poems that I think are kind of tacky, but she says reading them soothes her when she's stressed. I say do whatever works for YOU and who cares if someone else thinks it's silly or dated.

Oy, remind me to bury my bowl of rocks when I get home. =( Didn't realize it was so terrible. Of course, mine aren't there for trendy reasons. They were part of our wedding. We had the guests hold them and "pass good thoughts" or some such thing (don't recall the exact tradition we borrowed it from), before putting them in a bowl on the way out of the ceremony area. We have one rock in there with words - it says Love, and we picked it up on our honeymoon. We have a few other rocks in there that we've picked up on various travels...everything from beach rocks, to painted rocks, to little carved decorative things. The bowl itself was hand-carved by my father-in-law for the wedding.

But yeah, inspirational garbage, I suppose.

If the stones are inscribed with inspiration, does it make it okay to throw them in glass houses?

@ Seaside: As long as you don't throw them before swine.

No on the inspirational stones....but the bouquet in the bottom photo is gorgeous.

one word - tacky

lol@Seaside.

The selections chosen for the article are tacky tacky tacky, but I do have one "inspirational" image in my home that I absolutely adore:

http://ny-image1.etsy.com/il_fullxfull.50818001.jpg

(if you're too lazy to click -- it's a great little gocco print by Rosemary Travale that reads "Stop being sad, start being RAD!" Gets me out of bed on those extra-tough days ;)