I still remember the salesman who came to my 10th grade class. He was hawking magazines, I think, for a school fundraiser. What I remember distinctly were his words. He lifted a stack of magazines and proclaimed: “Information! This is the Information Age.”
That was back in 1985 so he may have been a bit ahead of his time. Who knows when the Information Age officially started, but we’re sure in it now. Deluged daily.
I find myself increasingly turning the radio and computer off. Recycling newsletters before I read them and deleting extraneous emails, not to mention skipping worthwhile blogs and news articles. It’s impossible to keep up these days. The informational input overwhelms us.
In the midst of so much INPUT, we have to remember to make space for our own thoughts, dreams and ideas. Some information is good, but too much can drown out our own voice. We need to leave room for IDEAS.
As an author, one of the most common questions I get is “Where do your ideas come from?” The answer is simple:
From walks.
Walks, solitary cross-country skis, hikes, even simple manual jobs like vacuuming the car or weeding the garden. When my body is moving and I am alone with my thoughts my subconscious opens up. That’s when the ideas pour in.
That’s why you hear so many people say “I thought of it in the shower” or “It just came to me while I was walking my dog.” Ideas sprout when we give them space and let go.
Here’s how I write an essay: I hold a thought in my head and take it for a walk. By the end of the walk I have the intro, ending and arc to my essay. The same with books. My most recent book is a ghost story for 8-12 -year-olds. The entire idea for the book — plot, characters, ending and all — entered my head while I was cross-country skiing at Sand Lakes Quiet Area.
Last week was Spring Break. I watched my two kids relish the endless unstructured time. We stayed close to home and played. One morning my 5 and 8 year-olds woke up at 6:30am and sustained an imaginative game that went on for 5 hours without a break. It was a game they made up, something about robins and ducks and a “dude with a dagger.” They’ve figured out they can enjoy pretend games together as long as they incorporate a few battles (for my younger one) and several songs (for my oldest).
Kids need space for IDEAS, too. Their own ideas. Traditional education is heavy on input. Parents are pretty big on structuring kids’ weeks. Video games and all things “screen” take up brain cells full of input. Sometimes we need to stop the input and save space for ideas instead. Unstructured time. Empty time. Outside time. Creative time. That’s where the brain truly comes alive. That’s where ideas come from.
What prompts your best ideas and creativity? Do you ever feel overwhelmed by too much input? Do you have enough unstructured idea time?
