My husband and I have reached some turning points in our creative endeavors, including the ones we’re working on as a team. So, I suggested that every day for a month, we write down one harebrained idea for how we could advance our work or make more money. I called them “harebrained ideas” because I wanted to give us permission to write down any thought, no matter how crazy it sounded. Because sometimes crazy is where creativity begins.
We divided the paper into two columns, one for him and one for me. We’re each allowed to pitch wild ideas to each other, and if there’s a suggestion that would involve us both, it goes into both of our columns. Nothing is off the table. We’re throwing spaghetti at the wall to see what sticks.
We’re also not allowed to overanalyze the ideas. No poking holes in them. No pressure to decide right now that the idea is the one we should take action on. After all, if we let them percolate, it’s possible we’ll see a way to combine them, and wouldn’t that be extra cool? If nothing else, after a month of staring at our ideas on a page, we’ll have a sense of which ones still excite us.
As the days pass, some of the ideas seem less and less outlandish. I mean, really, wasn’t the idea that someone could build a flying vehicle or a bulb that would emit light at one point considered absurd? It takes the pressure off realizing our ambitions are not nearly as high as that. We’re not trying to change the world, at this point, we’re just hoping to bring it, and ourselves, a little more joy.
I’m not sure if we’ll follow through on any of our harebrained ideas, but just putting them down on paper has already spurred me toward one new goal. If nothing else, it’s just plain fun to think about, especially since we know this is not a contract. It’s not binding. It’s actually the opposite. It’s freedom! Freedom to imagine that anything, no matter how ludicrous, is possible.
If you like this post, please share and credit Teresa and Bursts of Brilliance for a Creative Life blog
