Sometimes, inspiration strikes in the oddest of places: in the shower; when you’re brushing your teeth; when you’re taking care of business in the smallest room in the house, and in middle of the night.
When this happens, it’s a good idea to make a note.
Oddly though, that’s not always possible (or practical).
I used to keep a note pad next to my bed, so that if inspiration struck in the middle of the night, I’d be prepared to record my brilliance!
The wheels fell off this habit when many years ago, a flash of genius overtook me whilst I was half asleep. I reached for my trust notebook.
I found the pen that was right there, and I recorded my brilliance and went back to sleep—safe in the knowledge that my inspiration had been preserved for posterity.
Except, it wasn’t.
The next morning, as I eagerly recalled my scribbles of the night, I eagerly looked at this world changing notion, only to learn that it was an illegible scribble.
Rather than being a brilliant thought, it looked like an inebriated, dyslexic, three-legged spider had fallen into an inkwell and crawled its death throes across the page.
Another time I wrote something down in the middle of the night and looked at it the next morning, the note said: yes!
So, while keeping a note pad near your bed is a handy thing to do, it does not always work out as you’re hoped.
Sigh.
How about you?
Have you had a similar experience?
As always, thanks for reading.
Feel free to follow me on Twitter and LinkedIn
If you’ve like what you’ve seen here, why not share this post with a friend?
P.S. Next time on Shaking the Tree … The power of dumping your personal baggage
Glad to hear you can relate. Oh, the horror! I recall being crushed when I read my scribble, only to find it was illegible!
Gary- Your three-legged spider depiction of the bedside note-keeping is so accurate, it made me laugh. Sometimes the bedside note-keeping is extremely valuable, as all those thoughts would've just disappeared into thin air never to be seen again. But sometimes, to your point, it looks like an indecipherable dream that no one, not even the self, can decode. Hope you're well this week. Cheers, -Thalia