Where Do Ideas Live?

 

My mind keeps going back to the conversation my friend Charlotte* and I had yesterday...

we got talking about (among a # of other things) how it is that some people are inundated with ideas and some people struggle coming up with them.

I'm one of the inundated folks - ideas track me. I love the flow (usually - although I will get cranky when I lose focus on something because of 10,000 other somethings - just sayin').

Like I said, my mind keeps going back to this. I'm intrigued by the fact that some people have trouble generating ideas. So, earlier today, I thought about it (a lot!).

And even considered whether it's possible that there's an Idea Gene or somesuch that only some people have (which goes against what I believe about who we are/how we're made/the essence of creativity). But then I had an aha! thought.

Or rather, I had an aha! experience. I got stuck!

I was in the middle of writing up a to-do list for today, stopped when I couldn't figure out how I was going to work on one of the to-do items - and stayed stopped. Stuck! Quicksand stuck (something I had recurring nightmares about as a child - damn Lassie and the quicksand episode!).

I realized that, though I have a continuous flow of ideas in a wide variety of areas, I don't have that flow in all areas.

And the aha! was: idea-stuck happens to everyone. We all have it somewhere. Some people have a lot of idea-stuck. Other people only have idea-stuck in a few areas.

The flip side (side A) of that is - we ALL have ideas, which fits with what I believe about everyone being creative. No one is missing the Idea Gene.

When I got stuck today I went to my current favorite form of play (drawing metaphorical maps) and let the drawing pull me in. I got out of my mind (hahaha)...

as I drew I started to loosen up - ideas came to me. I knew what I wanted to do next to get moving on that to-do list item. I totally lost the idea-stuck.

And there was a second aha!: PLAY is where ideas live!

We all (everyone!) open up to ideas (wherever we're stuck) when we play. Because play takes us out of black and white thinking, logical thinking, fear and knotted up thinking - out of our minds. It loosens us up and lets our ideas come out of hiding.

What do YOU think? Have you ever had PLAY break your idea-stuck wide open? If so, what kind of PLAY? (and - slight aside: anybody else remember Lassie and the quicksand?)

 

*{Editor's Note 3/8/12: My friend Charlotte, mentioned above, is writer Charlotte Rains Dixon (@Wordstrumpet on Twitter) - and ohmyword, when we were talking (about all kinds of things) we talked about her new class,

Cultivating Your Creative Ideas, (that's how we got into discussing ideas in general) but I had no idea she was offering it SO soon. This woman knows IDEAS, go check out her class - it's offered at a great price!}

p.s. this is not an affiliate link - it's a love link : )

Comments

[Sue Mitchell]

Very true! For me, what's most important about play is that there is no judgment there. It's just for fun, so the inhibitions that block you melt away.

I love that you have a lot of ideas about having a lot of ideas, Karen. :)

[Square-Peg Karen]

Thanks for commenting, Sue!

You hit it here about inhibitions, they seem to be at the root of stuck (if they aren't the root itself).

Giggling over "a lot of ideas about having a lot of ideas"! You're so right!

Ok, let's go play!

[Susan T. Blake]

I love this! I agree that EVERYONE has ideas, but I see a lot of people who squelch their own ideas so quickly that they begin to think they don't have any. I big piece of it is listening to ourselves and letting the ideas bubble up. And you're right, Play is an important way of - or the playground (real or metaphorical) is a great place to do it!

On a side note, when I first read "Idea Gene" I thought you said "Idea Genie." :)

[Charlotte Dixon]

One of the things that I keep thinking about from our conversation yesterday is the idea of flow. How there's a flow of ideas for all of us, but some of us stop it. I love that concept because its true. And I loved our conversation yesterday!

[Terri]

Play births ideas for me too! When I play and laugh everything gets into a natural balanced perspective or maybe it doesn't matter as much as it did before playtime! I don't know which it is! Ideas flow, answers come into view. Being in nature does it for me too, but in a more serious or mature way usually. Love both!

I've been seen going a bit out of my way to walk the longer route when it is raining and I rarely miss the opportunity to splash through the middle of a puddle! Weee! Ideas flow when I do that. If no one is looking I might jump on a curb in a parking lot and walk it like a balance beam. Lately, I've been making up a little dance using my fingers like finger-dancing on my desk! (Thanks Sue Mitchell!) Works wonders for getting out of idea-stuck! The cats around here love it when I pick up one of their toys and start playing!

This one made me smile real big Karen!

[Square-Peg Karen]

Ok Susan - I'm liking that Idea Genie thing! Maybe we could work together on building one - grin.

What you said about "listening to ourselves" - I love that! I think we're taught (sometimes, but not necessarily, intentionally) not to listen to ourselves, or not to trust that voice if we do listen. I guess play circumvents those old lessons somehow...

Thanks for coming over to visit!!

[Square-Peg Karen]

<3 (yes, I know the darn heart won't show up here - I wish there was a heart button on Typepad - grin). It was so great talking with you!

Flow rocks - and I'm glad you're sharing your let-it-flow knowledge! It's sad (and unproductive) when our flow gets stopped, or blocked.

[Square-Peg Karen]

I love, love, love splashing in puddles! I'm giggling reading about all the great ways that you play, Terri - and thinking of the kitty's enjoying you playing with their toys is making me laugh!!

Thanks for commenting (ooh, where's that darn <3 heart button?). And now I've got to find out about Sue Mitchell's finger-dancing - where does she write about that?? What a great idea!