The Vanishing Thought
This blog was going to be on a different topic. But as the title might suggest, the original idea is no longer around. Let me explain…
Last night before I fell asleep, I thought of blending two creative ideas that wouldn’t normally go together. I knew it would be a great subject to write about for the blog that I was planning to work on first thing in the morning. You’ll have to take my word on this. I know that a good idea can vanish within thirty seconds, so I grabbed my iPhone to make a note. Alas…
Queen Elizabeth, as played by Judi Dench in the movie “Shakespeare in Love,” must walk across a muddy road. The courtiers wait for her to begin crossing, then realize they are supposed to cover the mud with their coats. But the Queen has already stepped into the mud.
“Too late, too late,” she says as they scramble around her.
Her words echoed in my mind (she won the Academy Award for her performance) as I wrote “BLOG IDEA,” on my iPhone. Because that was as far as I got. The idea had already vanished. It must have been a really good idea, because the better they are the more quickly they seem to disappear.
So here I am, attempting to salvage what would have been an amazing blog by sharing with you the short, sad story of its loss.
I have always needed to write down ideas immediately. Before my iPhone was a constant companion, I carried a small pad of paper and a pen in my shirt pocket so that I could immediately jot down any idea or poem that came to mind.
Perhaps I should have called this blog “Into the Mist,” or something more literary. But I’m still pissed at myself, so I’ll go with my first thought. The poet Allen Ginsberg coined the phrase, “First thought, best thought,” to describe a way of writing that allows one to be spontaneous and unfiltered. I don’t know if I agree with that, but I do know it doesn’t always apply. I’ve had a lot of thoughts which are, well, better off filtered.
So, I’m here to lick my literary wound, and distract you with the story of what might have been.
Maybe you’ve heard of others doing something like this. Perhaps you’ve even done it yourself. I’m sure there are many great but lost ideas wandering around out there.
Alan