Creative Heartstrings #4 - Idea Notebook

The Post it™ note is the greatest invention. Okay not the greatest but you know what I mean. I’ve used them everywhere. For everything. But mostly ideas. And that’s where my ideas would end up. Everywhere. My thoughts ended up doing me no good because of the million sticky notes. I had to get control.

Enter my Black Books - my collection of ideas.

I call them Black Books because that’s the color of them and that’s what I called them when describing them to my family. What most other people call them are Idea Notebooks. I’ve written ideas in my Black Books for at least 6 years and refer back to them over and over. They’ve been so successful for my idea-keeping that I have books for different topics -
          - General ideas
          -Business Ideas
          - Church Ideas
          - Book Ideas
          -Women’s Retreat
          -Surface Pattern Ideas
 I sometimes carry one with me. But what ever the thought it goes in one of these books. And by thoughts I mean good, bad, nonsensical, crazy, what-are-you-writing-that-down-for thoughts. That’s the beauty of these books - there’s no editing. They’re raw. There are no rules to this record. You are its author so put in what interests and excites you. 

Honor your ideas. It doesn’t matter its merit, give it its space. Give it life. Let it have its breath even if it remains a whisper on the page the rest of its life, let it have its ink. You’re not obligated to these thoughts. You don’t have to do anything with them. You don’t have to share. 

It’s an insight to you, of you, for you. 

Sketch. Write. Scribble. Draw. Scrapbook. Tape. Tear. Note. It doesn’t matter how you record it. Experiences. Experiments. Explorations. Impressions. Excuses. Excerpts. Awareness. Everything. Anything. Collecting ideas is one of the first steps to being creative. So, go buy your book. Any size, shape, color or kind. Make it something you’ll love.

You have ideas. You see ideas. Collect the ideas. In one place.

Don’t be scared of the blank page of your new Idea Notebook. I’ll give you some prompts to get you started. 
Q. What inspired me to start a Idea Notebook? What name would I give it?
Q. What do I think about creativity? How creative do I feel?
Q. Who are the creativity people around me? What is it that makes me think they are?