MORNING ON MY ROOFTOP
… ideas and expectations
Tuesday Feb. 4, 2014
Most ideas have shelf-life shorter than milk cartons?
What determined which is good, great, earth shattering or life altering?
Another idea comes along, has its moment – then it dies.
I wouldn’t know with certainty a good idea from a bad one.
Do you?
I think, sometimes, I can tell a fantastic one from a horrible one – but when you’ve never heard them before, especially without context, how can you tell?
In eye twinkling genesis moments – they are all great.
An hour passes.
A day.
A week.
Two.
Seriously, we all know idiocy from excellence, but when baby ideas are hatched, can you tell good ones from bad, great from mediocre any easier than when baby chicks hatch?
They all look about that same at first too. We know some will lay an egg, some will be dinner, some will be coyote lunch, some will die as chicks. Some, cocky roosters shouting good-morning from roof tops.
Have you ever had this feeling: “gee, I wish I’d thought of that”
Or its worse cousin: “gee, I DID think of that … and never did anything with it”
They are … only ideas.
Good and bad don’t figure in at that fresh idea stage, do they?
I we all sat the whole day through, or all week for that matter, just scribbling out ideas – what would be left at the end?
There would be a list – not of everything we wrote, but a large portion, our list of ideas.
I’d like to see those.
I’d like to see ones that didn’t make it, that fell to the floor or into trash bins.
That’s worthy reading.
Why?
Because it reveals where our mind travelled, like whistle-stops on a train ride – that journey that took us to the better ideas, best ideas.
I had a great idea yesterday.
Turns out, someone had it already.
Whether or not we had an idea first has nothing to do with whether it is good, more good, less good, terrible or fantastic.
I think people we encounter are like those ideas – each one we encounter are so very different from each other.
Some are good ideas, some could be the worst of notions – but always hard to tell at first.
Sometimes, after years pass, still not clear, just like ideas that aren’t tested …
Unproven.
Undiscovered.
Waiting for action without which nothing happens.
The best idea of all is nothing without action.
The worst idea remains the worst idea unless we try it out to see if we are surprised.
You see, ideas, are just like people.
Mark Kolke
199,312
column written/ published from Calgary
morning walk: -22C / -8F, overcast, light snow trickling to earth, hard packed and cold gritty trail – and a chill-urgency to make it a brisk walk …which Gusta didn’t seem to happy about.
Reader feedback / comments always welcome:
Your Musing this morning conjured up an image of thoroughbred horses coming up to the gate before the run for the roses. By contrast, my Monday morning felt more like “once more into the breach”. My fault for not starting with coffee. Cheers, RH, Calgary, AB
