Ideas—Where Everything Begins

DAY 007 - 26/7/1 -

My writing journey started with an idea, as all stories do; even the nonfiction ones. All great men and women of history changed their world, by first having an idea—a dream that they wanted to come true. Even the world itself was born from God's mind. He created everything, by speaking His thoughts. "God said, 'Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear.' And it was so," (Genesis 1:9 NIV). Ideas are the beginning of everything.

If there's one thing people say about ideas, it's that they are hard to pin down. The reason isn't always because they fly away. Most of the time, it's because new ideas don't make any sense.

As long as an idea stays inside someone's mind, it's safe. However, there comes a moment when what is imagined becomes real; when the pencil meets the paper. That's when what seemed attainable reveals the fractures in its smooth design. It won't survive, but that doesn't mean it should be abandoned. Maybe, it just needs to be taught how to swim. In the same way a diver clothes themselves with flippers and an oxygen tank, so too must a fresh idea be properly equipped if it's going to breathe.

Ideas have to be refined, and sometimes that requires chiseling. This might mean cutting out its most attractive component. It can hurt to cut up a dream, but the dream is only getting trimmed so it can fit into the existing world. If the world's shape was different, then the peg wouldn’t need to be trimmed. Sometimes, it can be beneficial to adjust one's reality—pry it open to accommodate an uncut idea. Still, changing one's world is a cautious matter. More often than not, what is lost is far superior than what is seemingly gained. Consider this parable:

There exists in such a case a certain institution or law; let us say, for the sake of simplicity, a fence or gate erected across a road. The more modern type of reformer goes gaily up to it and says, "I don’t see the use of this; let us clear it away." To which the more intelligent type of reformer will do well to answer: "If you don’t see the use of it, I certainly won’t let you clear it away. Go away and think. Then, when you can come back and tell me that you do see the use of it, I may allow you to destroy it."

- G.K. Chesterton

Ideas are complicated, more so than they first appear. Without them, though, nothing happens; no stories, no change, no progress. That is why the world depends on ideas, and on those who can pin them down. I only hope that I'm able to do so with my story.

Source

Chesterton - The Thing: Why I am a Catholic (1929)