It's been said many times that there is no such thing as an original idea, that everything created in the world is a derivative of or inspired by something else. For the most part I think this is true but it also depends on how you define originality. If you're a purist, which is sounds like you are, then originality is extremely hard to achieve. I mean, the very essence of inspiration means being inspired by the idea, words or work of someone or something else. I think a better way thing to strive for is creating something useful, something that brings people joy and/or improves their lives. In the end, if you're work is derivative of something else, who cares, as long as it's not plagarism and you've made meaningful changes or improvements that differentiates your product from the inspiration - then originality starts to not matter so much. Don't start by trying to reinvent the wheel - maybe start out by trying to make it better or more useful for a particular group of people.

Good luck!