Where Do You Find Ideas?

Ideas are fun and they can take any form. They can be like pictures in our minds; appear as day dreams or they may be just whispers, words we can’t let go of.  They can convey messages from our subconscious and our intuition. Ideas excite us and help us see a world of possibilities.

Sometimes I have too many ideas, but I’d rather have too many than none at all.

I think at some point we are all fear running out of ideas.

Recently, during a particular lull in ideas, I thought to myself, “Oh no, here it is. I’ve finally run out of ideas!”

The dread, the sorrow, the sadness of it all had me lamenting my fate.

I had fallen into a hole, a crater sized rut of procrastination and general malaise.  I wasn’t doing anything for me. All my energy was moving outward, toward other people and other things. My projects were on the back burner and the longer they stayed there, the easier it was to find an excuse not to look at them or work on them.

Hours turned into days and days turned into weeks. One day it was April and the next it was May. I blinked a few times, while laying on the couch ‘resting’ and suddenly looked up to see June staring back at me.

“Where did the time go? Where did my ideas go?”

I looked around as if in a daze and realized that both time and ideas were mine, but I had given both away.

Yes, I have obligations and responsibilities, everyone does, but I also have an obligation to me. And, that means saying ‘no’ sometimes to other people, it means saying ‘yes’ to me sometimes and it means to get off my butt and get to work whether I feel like it or not!

I didn’t run out of ideas and they didn’t go into hiding.

I had just stopped looking. I had stopped feeding the fire that helps them appear.

So, I asked myself. “Where do ideas come from? Where do MY ideas come from?”

They come from reading about other people’s ideas; reading biographies and creative nonfiction that share both ideas and stories.
Reading, for me, is so important to my well being and I need to remember to take at least an hour a day to read, regardless of what is going on around me.

They come from hanging out with and talking to other people who share similar interests, likes and fascinations.

I was reminded of how important this was this past week while hanging out with two friends, as well as, a whole group of people who love to write at the North Wildwood Beach Writers’ Conference.

They come from learning, trying new things and experimenting.

I’ve been teaching myself PHP and MySql and have on my list to teach myself Python this summer.

This also means to get back to painting and art journaling and maybe to try sculpting or ceramics, two things I’ve always thought of doing.

They come from experiencing new and different environments.

I spent a few days at the Jersey shore this past week attending the North Wildwood Beach Writers’ Conference.  The sights and sounds were a delight and the event itself was inspiring.

I also need to take some day trips and visit local attractions, maybe take a summer class at the college, attend a local workshop or seminar and/or visit some independent new and used bookstores.

They come from working and taking action.

I need to get back to work, to start blogging again and to get back to teaching and consulting.

They come from finishing old projects. (I’m better at starting than finishing.)

This is a big one. I need to finish both the TWITTER BASICS ebook and the JOURNALING FOR SELF-DISCOVERY GUIDEBOOK. It’s hard to move on when both of these are sitting unfinished on my desk. I have created a timeline, schedule and deadline for both.

They come from beginning new projects.

This is the fun part. Starting new projects always leads to new ideas.

They come from working in an organized, clean, beautiful setting.

I’ve been picking up and organizing the piles and dusting and cleaning.

I’ve also realized I miss having fresh flowers in my home office. This will be remedied today.

And, they come from eating nutritious foods and exercising.

Way too much junk food and food eaten on the run combined with little or no movement for weeks on end has me feeling moody, lethargic and just down right miserable.

My brain can’t think and imagine without proper nutrition and oxygen. The right foods feed my brain making it happy and full of energy and the wrong foods mess with my head causing me to feel depressed and moody and drains my energy. Exercise forces oxygen not only into my lungs but into my brain, feeding all those tiny little brain cells that I don’t want to lose.

Want to know how effective this list was?

Just within the last week, since I started implementing all of the ideas above and I have a whole list of new ideas and new projects to begin.

Life is good again.