I’ve been wondering about this recently. Where do ideas come from?
There are times when ideas seem to dry up. At other times, they flow so fast and thick that you wonder when and how you will execute them all!
So where do ideas come from?
According to Elizabeth Gilbert, ideas are viruses.
I believe that our planet is inhabited not only by animals and plants and bacteria and viruses, but also by ideas. Ideas are a disembodied, energetic life-form. They are completely separate from us, but capable of interacting with us—albeit strangely. Ideas have no material body, but they do have consciousness, and they most certainly have will. Ideas are driven by a single impulse: to be made manifest. And the only way an idea can be made manifest in our world is through collaboration with a human partner. It is only through a human’s efforts that an idea can be escorted out of the ether and into the realm of the actual. – Elizabeth Gilbert, Big Magic
Quite a fascinating thought, isn’t it?
And so I’ve been working away at my ideas in the little windows of time that I have available to me. I’ve stopped thinking about when and how I will execute them; instead, I sit prepared for inspiration to strike. I collect together thoughts and ideas, sort them into a structure of sorts, and plug away at them slowly but surely.
This journal has become my constant companion – the catchall for all the random, stray thoughts that strike me without any consideration for where I am and what I am doing.
But I am not complaining. I’m soaking in all of this inspiration and following the signs. I’m still not sure exactly where they lead, but I trust, and I follow, and I am enjoying the ride!
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Good one 🙂
Nice one… so true sometime idea flows and sometimes you need to think
Yup! The key is to write them all down so you have something for when they stop flowing 😉
I don’t know the answer to that question either but like you whenever anything strikes me I note it down and when the time is right, a post stems from that. For now, that works for me 🙂
Yup, it is important to note ideas down, I’ve found. They just disappear otherwise!
May that journal of yours overflow with wisps of ideas, strategies on how to execute and millions of designs.
Aww….thank you Sid! 🙂
It’s an intriguing idea in itself, that ideas are a kind of virus. I don’t journal ideas – well, maybe I do, sometimes, through my blog.
Yes, it is! The first time I read it, I laughed. But when I thought about it, it made a weird kinda sense!
Fascinating thought about ideas! May they keep coming your way and mine, too! 🙂
Amen to that! 🙂
Loving the idea of a journal keeping for idea noting – I do it all the time too; though mine is very random as I have about ten diaries for it………..
I used to have tons of diaries and scraps of paper and I can’t tell you how many of them I lost or found too late! One journal definitely makes it much easier to track ideas. Ideally, a small one that you can slip into your purse and carry around with you. 🙂
Sometimes, we get so many ideas in our mind and seriously want to write them down..Journals are a great way of keeping track of all your thoughts and ideas 🙂
Ideas are like a flow of river, it can sometimes cause flood like situation. So, it is best to organize them somewhere to execute on time and that’s what I learn from this post.
#TirelessReader
I’m glad you learnt that from this post! 🙂
Oh I agree with you and EG. I often get my best ideas 10 minutes before I fall asleep and bug my husband with them.
haha! As long as he remembers them for you! 😉
Seriously though. Ideas can strike at the strangest of times sometimes!!
What a wonderful quote! As a budding fiction writer, I’ve experience the ebb and flow of ideas almost every week! My notebook is my constant companion 🙂
Have you read Big Magic? I’d heartily recommend it if you haven’t! It’s such a wonderful pep talk for creativity.
MG its fabulous that you are focusing on putting together these ideas in your idea box. The idea isnt executing all , but executing well the ones that really work for you and this is a brilliant way to make sure everything that you are planning and planning so fabulously well doesnt slip away while you are working on the mundane 😉
Loved the quote , esp the bit about ideas needing another human partner .. lets spread some idea-love now !!
Yes! And thank you for saying this! I needed to hear this too – that it’s ok to let some ideas wait and work really well on the other ones! 🙂
thats cute. Most of my ideas for a blog post (specially the writing ones) comes to me as I am desperately trying to get some sleep. I spend IDK how much time thinking how about writing this or that and even how I am going to start the post!
LOL! I think that’s true of most bloggers and writers! We are constantly drafting and redrafting posts in our head, and when we sit down to write, we go blank sometimes 😉
Ahh what a lovely thought! Yes, it is so strange how ideas pop up at random unexpected times and sometimes none at all show up when you most need it. Nice one 😀
Yes, so infuriating ideas can be sometimes! 😀
A journal is an amazing thing that captures all our passing thoughts. Love that beautiful handmade journal in the pic! Creativity fosters more creativity, isn’t it? I try and capture my thoughts too… even when I do not know where they’ll take me eventually. The journey is as important as the goal, I’d say!
Oh yes! I also believe that creativity is a key to idea generation. When you doubt your creativity, ideas also tend to get stuck. And I agree with you – the journey is as important, and should be as much fun, as the destination! 🙂
I always carry a small notepad in my bag and if I travel without a sling bag I note the ideas in evernote. Love the thought, love your writing and love that pic! All, so inspiring!
Aditi
My iPhone notes are filled with idea scraps too! And I almost always carry a journal almost everywhere!
And thank you so much for your kind words Aditi!! 🙂
I have an A5 filofax Bullet Journal, that doubles up as my planner, and journal and goes with me everywhere. I just dump ideas as they come in them, I debate their rationality later. I am so looking forward to see all those ideas from your journal come alive.
I’ve heard a lot about bullet journals, Jai, but never seen one in action. Would love a peek into yours! 🙂
Sometimes you also have the ideas and you know how they want to manifest, but you don’t see the path to helping them come into being.
Definitely an interesting way of looking at ideas.
True! And chances are you’ll see that idea implemented by someone else, who could see the path. It’s happened with me many times! 🙂
The ideas plague my mind on Sunday nights forming, twisting and often erasing and replacing with more of their kind in order to help me come up with my Monday post. I tell – “go away and let me get some sleep because the early morning tiffins do not get cooked and packed by you, come back in the morning when I sit with the laptop open.” Do they hear me? No? Why?
hahahaha! Indeed, why? They’re pesky no, these ideas. They never come when you want them, they come at their own sweet time!!
Loved the thought..
Yes, an idea is a virus that grows…
but to be frank, when i sit down to write.. I am null..
I don’t know sometimes it just pops up..and then i forget it later on..
Have to build up a habit to jot down stuff 🙂