31 Days: The Power of Ideas


Ideas can be powerful things. They can take you to new places, allow you to soar, or limit and bind you. One of the best things about writing this blog is the daily focus it brings to playing with ideas.

Actually, that is the secret to stretching your creativity: 
being playful with ideas...

The "discipline" or habit of setting aside some time for allowing the mind to generate a flow of ideas is valuable and enjoyable.
Here's what I like to do, and you may enjoy this too:

Some folks might call this brainstorming, but my practice feels more relaxed and playful than that. 

I like to think of it as imagineering. 
{Thank you Walt Disney}

I like to use my voice memo to capture my flow of ideas. 
{unless I'm in the shower, where flow of water seems to induce a flow of ideas!} 
Some of the twists and turns in imagineering are astounding and fun. If you don't "imagineer" regularly and need some help getting started, you can use some of these techniques to generate a flow:
Riff on a theme, 
Turn the idea or theme upside down or backwards, 
Ask yourself: "what would the opposite of X look like?"
"what does the shape/color of X remind me of?"
"how could I take X one step further?"
"what have I never seen X do before?" 

Asking silly or "impossible" questions allows you to think in new ways and generate new idea flows. It also helps induce a relaxed right-brain focus, rather than a pressured left-brained list-maker type of mentality.


There are several things freeing and expansive about this process:

You learn that ideas are abundant and plentiful. In fact, the more you do this, the faster they seem to come.

You realize that you don't need to 'wait' for an idea to come to you... just throw the first one out there to get started.

You learn that your first ideas may be pallid compared with the amazing idea just a quarter-turn away, so you are willing to stay engaged and play for awhile. 

You learn that ideas are tools, not dogma.

You learn that the true value lies in a flexible mind, not in a particular idea. 

The flexible mind is the goose that is able to lay those golden eggs.

...

I am grateful for a flexible mind.

I am thankful for the opportunity to exercise my mind and expand my creativity.

I value the playful quality that allows the mind and heart to be flexible.




How deeply might your life be enriched  
after practicing 31 Days of Gratitude?  





{I host a linky party every Wednesday. More info *HERE.*  I'm sharing Gratitude for Ideas, flexible mind, and Imagineering with these fine folks, whose links open on ~ Sunday:  Sew Darned CraftyI Should Be Mopping The FloorMaking Monday MarvelousBrassy AppleCraftomaniacAlderberry HillUnder the Table & DreamingMaking the World Cuter ; MondaySkip to my LouCherished BlissSugar Bee Crafts ; TuesdayNot Just a HousewifeElizabeth & Co., The DIY DreamerTip Junkie's Tip Me TuesdaySavvy Southern StyleWhat we Wore & MadeUncommonGingersnap CraftsThe NY Melrose FamilyToday's Creative Blog ; WednesdayI Gotta Create! ,  All Star Block PartyThe 36th AvenueLive-Laugh-RoweHandy Man Crafty WomanThe Trendy Treehouse ; ThursdayScissors & SpatulasMy Repurposed LifeFrugal GirlsShabby Nest,  Romantic HomeFrench County CottageStuff & Nonsense ; FridayFunky Junk InteriorsHappy HourAnything GoesFinding FabulousMy Simple Home LifeTatertots & JelloThirty Handmade DaysOne Creative Mommy ; SaturdayBe Different Act NormalA Bouquet of TalentTutus & Tea PartiesSix Sisters StuffSew Country ChickDIY ShowoffPositively Splendid , Nifty Thrifty Things}



I want to hear about YOUR techniques for generating ideas.
When do you tend to generate ideas?

4 comments:

Danni@SiloHillFarm said...

Oh this is my favorite post in this series so far! You have no idea how timely this was for me. Thank you!

Katalina Jewelry said...

Hey Christina - I love your thoughts on how to "imagineer"! Now can you give me suggestions on how to turn my "imagineering" off at bedtime so I can sleep at night? lol

Kei said...

'Imagineering'--love that word! :D I always just called it 'brainstorming' (guess I wasn't being imaginative enough?! lol)
When I do it (usually when trying to think of things to make/write/etc) I try not to think of how I'll create the finished item (or if it's even possible), but to just draw or list ideas. Did this whilst waiting for a doctor's appointment once and ended up with over 100 ideas scrawled down (I had a long wait lol)!

Christina at I Gotta Create! said...

Bravo, Kei!

And Kathy...it's an occupational hazard of being an imagineer to be able to find the "off" switch. lol!

I would say to 'unplug,' take a look at:
http://igottacreate.blogspot.com/2012/10/31-days-make-space-for-gratitude-breathe.html