Idea Wrangler

The very ideas we are waiting on are often already right in front of us. We miss them because we’re too preoccupied wondering when they’ll show up. 

It reminds me of this picture of a man sitting on the back of his broken-down truck due to a flat tire. Heck, he looks more deflated than the tire. The irony? His truck bed is overflowing with fully-inflated tires. I have no idea where the photo originated, but I do know it’s a good snapshot of us at times. The answers are right behind us…if only we’d quit focusing on the problem and see God’s provision.

The key is learning how to wrangle the random ideas that spark your curiosity each day before quickly fleeing. Perhaps it’s an observation you have while walking through the grocery store. Or an off-the-cuff remark from a friend. Maybe it’s a sudden memory from childhood or a dream. It’s there and then gone in the blink of an eye. Unless you capture it. 

Poet Ruth Stone tells how while working the fields, poems would come to her. "It was like a thunderous train of air and it would come barreling down at her over the landscape." If she didn't capture it, the words would "continue on across the landscape looking for another poet." 

An idea wrangler knows the value of these brief sparks…and writes them down now to later ponder and shape. Some won’t make the cut, but many will. And in the most unexpected ways. But only if you catch them while you can.

Want More? Order your copy of Waves of Creativity here.