Don't Chase It

it will come

“Ideas are like fish. If you want to catch little fish, you can stay in the shallow water. But if you want to catch the big fish, you’ve got to go deeper. Down deep, the fish are more powerful and more pure. They’re huge and abstract. And they’re very beautiful.”
David Lynch, Catching the Big Fish: Meditation, Consciousness, and Creativity

I’m a word nerd. I pay attention to everything I hear, see, think, or glean, likely a result of being an HSP (highly sensitive person).

My art and my writing idea-gathering process comes in many forms. It includes extensive reading of all genres of books and magazines, as well as fellow Substack writers, watching TV and movies, listening to music and podcasts, walking, driving, gazing, and daydreaming. Basically, anything that crosses my path, catches my eye, or pops into my head may become fodder for my writing. Sometimes, it’s just one word or phrase, like luminescence or sleight-of-hand. And quotes! Here’s one that is patiently waiting for me to develop it into something special, “There is no way of telling people they are all walking around shining in the sun.” Thomas Merton

This is not new to me. I’ve been capturing and collecting the above-mentioned since I was a teenager—before I knew why, before I ever wrote anything, before I wrote for public consumption.

I save all these ideas, quotes, whispers, and fragments in a file on my computer and in a plethora of journals. When I lack ideas or inspiration, I can search the file for keywords, but mostly, I derive pleasure and inspiration from reading through the file or my journals until the spark ignites.

Every so often, I’ll start directly in the Substack app and begin a new post with a phrase, quote, or idea. I let it sit in the Draft hopper until it begins to take form. Some ideas eventually wither on the vine and end up in the ether with the click of the Delete button.

Good ideas live on. One will shout out or wave a metaphorical flag: It’s time! Write me! I take it from there. I write what I think and feel about what I know or don't know about the topic, discovering and learning as I go. The more I write, the more my neurons fire. Connections are made. I’m guided by intuition and concepts, not logic. Logic = the editing, punctuation, order, and syntax. All of that comes later.

Writing takes time. I’ll write for a while and then think for a while, a while being anything between an hour to three weeks or more. I have one idea in the Drafts folder that is almost a year old. It lingers there because it is a very esoteric (yet inspiring) phrase - Entering the poetic dimension. It is something I want to explore. It relates to going beyond using words to convey information by using words to create a richer, more evocative experience for the reader. I want to explore how it could relate to our everyday experience. Does it even sound like anything you want to read? Maybe I should just apply it in my writing rather than write about it. Let me know.

One key thing I’ve discovered about working with ideas and inspiration is not to chase them. Don’t stress about coming up with a good idea on demand. It will come to you. It will come at any time and often unexpectedly. It may be a wisp of a word or a full-blown idea. The secret is to always be open to receiving it. Artist and creator David Lynch said that his ideas do not come to him while he is meditating but that the practice of meditation enables him to receive the ideas when they do come. I think it boils down to quieting or distilling the rumble and chatter in our minds to prepare space for the inspiration to arrive.

Quotes of the Week

To pay attention,
this is our endless
and proper work.
Mary Oliver

Where do ideas come from? From looking at one thing, and seeing another. From fooling around, from playing with possibilities, from speculating, from changing, pushing, pulling, transforming, and if you’re lucky, you come up with something worth saving, using, and building on. That’s where the game stops and the work begins.
Saul Bass

Desire for an idea is like bait. When you're fishing, you have to have patience. You bait your hook, and then you wait.
David Lynch