Kimberly Gardner

What writer hasn’t heard this question dozens, if not hundreds, of times?

And what non-writer hasn’t at least wondered, if not asked outright, this question?

Well, this morning’s blog post is my version of the answer.

And that answer is that ideas are everywhere. They surround me, pressing in on all sides, fighting for a chance to pitch themselves and perhaps spark my creativity. Though if they do get that chance, and even if there is a spark strong enough to grab my attention away from whatever project has me in its grip, there’s no guarantee that the idea will ever set down roots.

When I say the ideas are everywhere I literally mean everywhere. They lurk in the newspaper articles I read, the music I listen to, in the ads that interrupt me when I watch TV, and, perhaps most interestingly, in conversations I overhearon the street or the train or standing in line in Starbucks.

I have a friend who is constantly tossing ideas my way. I’m sure she thinks she’s doing me a favor sending these little plot bunnies over to camp out by my computer, and some of her ideas aren’t bad.

But they’re also not mine. And that means they have even less of a chance to ignite that spark.

I don’t even know what it is that makes one idea bloom and another die any more than I know why the African violets on my window-sill suddenly flower after months of dormancy. Is it the sun? The amount of water? The food I bought them or the number of times I feed them in a month?

I have no clue.

It’s the same with the ideas, those lovely, elusive butterflies constantly flitting over and around my head.

If only someone would invent an idea net so I could easily capture the brightest and most beautiful of them before they disappear forever.