Hiding in the flood
Today was a big day for big ideas.
I had so many of them.
They were new.
They were bright.
They were shiny.
They arrived one after another.
They arrived just as I had other things do do.
They went laterally from time to time.
Other time they charged on ahead.
But on this particular day?
I was an idea wrangler!
I roped them up and tied them down. I turned table tops into aquariums where notes pooled and schooled and morphed into outlines of blog posts.
Over a dozen emerged!
As the sun set and I packed up to go home I realized that under and behind all of these shiny new ideas, I could see it, plain as day, my good intentions.
My good intentions were hanging out with my ignored plan and intended work. The intended work was a little gritty and didn’t have the same alure that my shiny new ideas have. My intended play involved spending some time with some cast away ideas.
I have a little encampment of misfit ideas that are fun and quirky but don’t quite work. I like to give them attention every now and then to see if we can make magic together. These cast off ideas usually have some gems in them. And, it’s a lot of work to mine them. So shiny new ideas make sense, but only if!
Big shiny new ideas only make sense if I follow through, and share them with you. This is the third of twelve shiny new posts. I’m curious to see if I can follow through with all twelve, or if by the end of twelve days, the ideas from a massive brain dump look less than brilliant over time.
It’s easy to get distracted by shiny new ideas. It’s easy to hide behind a mountain of ideas. We build up our idea pile so big and so dense, it can be tough to get started. A big pile of ideas can cause such paralysis that it becomes a place to hide. Don’t mind the inaction, I’m just hiding here, under a big pile of ideas.
So.
If you have a big pile of ideas, how do you start to work through them? How will you try them out? And, if given too long, when and how do your good ideas turn sour and stale. Mine become stones that I sometimes mine for gems or gold.
What do you do when you find yourself buried in the treasures of your creative imagination?
Including this one. And the two posts prior to this one? I started those on ‘idea day'too.
Ideas. My favourite.
Sometimes they are filed.
Books to read.
Spice blends to create.
Learning activities to create.
Plants to grow.
Furniture to refinish.
And then there are big ones. A friend took me to lunch yesterday and we talked about the new year. I have recently decided to retire as soon as the next right thing comes along. This idea is truly an epiphany. I planned to stay until I was 68 to 70. Suddenly, the math makes this a bit foolish. New ideas are needed.
I talked about 2 new positions I could make for myself with other educational institutions. Ideas I had for when I have more time. Now, there is more time on the horizon.
Or maybe I become the queen of organic catnip.
Just an idea.