I’ve been missing for a while. If you’re a reader, I’m sorry. I’ve been up to no good, playing Curator in the museum of my mind.
It’s the wrong approach. Now I’m sure of it.
Several months ago I ceremoniously stripped my idea tree in an attempt to “organize” my creative thoughts. Scads of colored paper with single words or phrases strewn around my knees, I scratched my head. Are these ideas even good? With that, I’d thrown open the door to the scrutiny of each thought.
Instead of building ideas up, I began tearing them apart. Don’t get me wrong; I’m a believer in making ideas fight for their lives…in due time. But to take an early concept and put it aside or even worse, pitch it, is simply wrong.
Think about it. I am an idea generator. This is a talent that God gave to me. Even on my worst days, I usually have one or two totally new concepts. They aren’t mine, really. They are gifts. Here is the big question: How does one appropriately steward the gift of thought?
The more I consider thought stewardship, the more I am sure that sifting these conceptions with such rigor when they are in infancy is no different from burying the creative gift I’ve been given.
Resolved: No more playing Curator of concepts, thoughts, and ideas.
It is a lousy job, really, and the yield is abysmal. Going forward, I will consider God the Curator, and simply develop that which comes. The best ideas will eventually take a life of their own, and those which weren’t truly inspired will surely fall of the page.
How about you? How are you stewarding the gifts you’ve been given?
So good to see you back on the page! You are so on track. Keep your God-given gifts flowing.