The best ideas

The best ideas come to me when I’m constrained:

• while driving
• in the shower
• mowing the lawn
• digging holes in the garden

It seems as though being limited in my ability to move, to write, to grab a piece of paper and a pen are key factors in my creative process.

It never fails.  I get the best ideas when I can’t write them down.  I went so far as to install a voice recording app on my phone, but even that doesn’t help.  I have to pull over on the side of the road to turn it on.

Maybe I’ll get a Bluetooth headset and call myself up, leaving little messages about blog topics and home decorating ideas.  Would my cell phone plan handle all the messages?  How many of them would have the roar of the lawnmower in the background?

And yet, these creative thoughts are like life.  We try so hard to control and make things fit our timing.  Life isn’t so convenient.  It attacks us when we’re constrained.  It sneaks up on us when we think we’ve got a perfectly lucid stream of consciousness.  It leaves us with fleeting snips and pieces of what we think is the perfect solution to our problems.

I think life is trying to tell me to stop for a while.

Stop being the over-responsible oldest child for a while.  Stop being the strong one.  Stop thinking I need to write things down and just let my mind flow for a while.

The good thing is life fills up our days for us, even when we try our best to remain still.  I always have holes to dig in the garden.  There’s always grass to mow.  Driving is a daily activity.  And thanks to today’s workout, I need a shower.

Time to turn on the hot water and do a little meditating…