Where does creativity come from?

If you had asked Hieronymus Bosch, he'd tell you creativity comes from a vigorous absinthe binge. Many modern designers might tell you that it's brought out by gin and tonic. Given the illegality of absinthe in the states, and my overall acquired dislike of pine needle flavored liquor, it would seem that the rest of the creative world would be out of luck. How then, is it possible that good art and design are still prolific in this world without a definitive source?

Granted, you could say it boils down to observing the idiosyncrasies of everyday life, but I need a more specific answer. In an effort to decipher the hidden bits of jumbled creativity inside my gourd, I'm going to track my thoughts on design projects I complete, things that inspire me, things that keep me up at night, and why so many "designers" continue to make such liberal use of Papyrus when a cornucopia of more appropriate typography is readily available. Hopefully when it's all said and done, I'll have a better understanding of where my ideas come from, and the internet will have one more blog filled with errant thoughts that are uninteresting to most everyone but it's creator.