Ages ago, back when Twitter was fun, I recall interacting with someone from the blogging community who mentioned keeping a “blogging garden,” a central spot where they kept track of their thoughts and ideas for future blog posts.
I loved this approach!
I was inspired to immediately set up a Google doc, I even named “Blog Garden,” so I too could easily capture my ideas.
This worked for me for awhile. When something came to mind I would quickly open the doc on my phone or, in a pinch, on my work computer (which I really tried to avoid), and type in my notes. Then, later in the week when I had some time, I’d sift through this collection of sentence fragments and half finished thoughts to find a starting point for my writing.
I wrote quite a bit using this approach.
Plus, in keeping this loose collection of possible writing topics, I started to see trends. I was able to recognize common themes that came up for me, I had a better idea of when I had the most ideas (it was when riding the bus), and I was able to make connections between seemingly unrelated notions.
This process was effective.
But, like a real garden, an idea garden also needs care and tending, otherwise it will end up a jumbled mess with an overgrowth of ideas and a rambling, bramble-like series of sentences that overlap.
And that’s where I find myself today.
I need to tend to my inspiration.
I’ve had a challenging couple of years and I’ve placed my personal, fun, and social pursuits on the backburner to focus on more pressing matters. Now, that I have a bit more time I’d like to cultivate my creativity and nourish that side of myself.
This is my birthday month, revisiting my interest in reading, writing and this platform is my gift to myself.
What tips do you have to support creativity and inspiration?
Overgrown garden in need of care and tending. Photo by Ries Bosch on Unsplash
The Seventeenth Line 