Bright Ideas
When my daughter Lily was about 7 years old, she had the bright idea to write a neighborhood newspaper. She told me all about it as she skipped beside me on the sidewalk, her two ponytails bouncing with every skip. As we passed a neighbor, she called out, “I’m going to write a neighborhood newspaper!” “Oh! That’s a marvelous idea!” our neighbor responded with enthusiasm. He had lots of questions for Lily about her bright idea and lots of suggestions too.
He explained that Lily would need to come up with various sections for her newspaper. For instance, she could include sports, animal stories and an advice column. She could go door to door, or use email to ask who would like to subscribe. Our neighbor strongly recommended that she always distribute her newspaper on the same day each week, so that people could anticipate its arrival. And she should probably wrap it in plastic to protect it from the rain and pollen. Of course, if it was small enough she could put it in the mailbox—then she wouldn’t need to wrap it in plastic. “How much are you going to charge for a subscription?” he asked. “And will the subscription last for a year or half a year, perhaps?” Lily wasn’t sure. “It wouldn’t have to be weekly,” he mused. “It could be monthly— that would be more manageable.” He asked Lily if she’d considered inviting other kids to participate? She told him she hadn’t. “There might be children at the local elementary school who would benefit from getting involved,” he said. “Maybe one of the teachers could help you organize it. I bet a lot of people would be interested in subscribing to a publication like that—not just neighbors. You might have a big business on your hands, young lady! Are you going to print it yourself? You’ll want to keep track of all your expenses and make sure you’re charging enough.”
As our neighbor became more and more energized with each detail of Lily’s newspaper, I noticed how small she looked, standing next to him on the sidewalk. Smaller than usual it seemed. When I picture the scene in my mind, I imagine Lily’s two springy ponytails having gone limp under the weight of this man’s elaborate business plan. She needed a cold glass of lemonade, a hug, and a nap—and no more talk about newspapers for a very long time.
A little too late, I thanked our neighbor for his many ideas and we headed on towards home.
“Wow” I said, once we were out of earshot. “That man had a LOT of ideas, didn’t he?” Lily nodded. “You still excited about your newspaper?” I asked. Lily looked up at me and saw I was beginning to laugh. She grinned and started to laugh too. She said she never EVER wanted to write a newspaper.
And she never did.
Beware of overthinking bright ideas. It will make your ponytails go limp, it will take the spring out of your step and you will find yourself considering taking a long nap on the sidewalk, or wherever you are—too weak to get back home. Creativity thrives when you focus on the step in front of you. Take that step and then focus on the next one. If you look at the whole journey, all at once, you may never even get out of bed.
~Amy