Day 288: This Might be the Worst Ever, but Like You, I Ignore Most of my Good Ideas

Do you ever wonder if you’ve ever had a brilliant thought or idea that could have made you a million dollars as an invention, story, movie or business venture? Our minds are continuously processing information and churning out ideas, but we either don’t acknowledge them or we don’t realize what we have. What if the only thing separating you from whatever tool invented the Swiffer is actually paying attention to yourself?

I did not want to write my blog tonight. I don’t feel like it, I have a headache and I have no new ideas. What sucks, is that I write anywhere from 2-6 blogs a day in my head. I’m constantly finding new ideas and fleshing them out mentally, but then I forget. Once I give birth to an idea and work through it, for some reason rather than retain it, my mind simply checks it off as complete and lets it fade away. As a writer and someone who swears the only things standing between a blockbuster novel and my current life is laziness it pisses me off to realize how many good ideas or stories I might be ignoring day after day.

Everything started out as just an idea that someone took time to develop and understand and sell as viable to someone else. What makes your ideas any less valid? Maybe you should have your own talk show or sports column or “bump-it.” What makes some people think, yeah, the Chia Pet is a fantastic idea and go to the trouble of developing and marketing such a thing when the rest of us think, “Hmm, someone should really invent a stocking cap with a hole in it for my ponytail.” Do we not value ourselves enough to give credence to the possibly golden ideas that we turn over in our congested brains?

I have so many blog ideas and so many book ideas, but only a few ever really make it to the page because I do not take the time out of my day to give them serious consideration. Maybe that’s what makes the difference. Maybe people who are in charge are the people that never worry if their ideas are stupid or impossible. Maybe they just throw it out there and expect others to help find a way to make it work. I guess you have to value yourself before others will value you and that is the bigger picture. I cannot tell you how many times when I was in school or playing trivia I know the answer but don’t say it because I don’t want to be wrong.

We are all too afraid of failure and I think it holds us back. Rather than spend time every day writing that novel, I write here, in my little self-absorbed space where I dare people to judge me, but don’t have to acknowledge that I care. Many of you have great ideas, I’ve read them or seen them. The only thing separating you from people that are making money at utilizing the same idea is the fact that they did it first, but that doesn’t mean you can’t do it better. Who says I can’t turn my blogs into a career. This is my own personal writing portfolio and while some may suck (like this one) others might have enough merit and promise to springboard a writing career. Who cares if the Snuggie was already invented, I bet one of you had a similar idea only better that you laughed off. Our brains aren’t just thinking for the hell of it, there is a purpose and a potential there that we are under utilizing because we’re lazy and embarrassed.