Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Trying to keep a damn thought or two in my head

So I was sitting at an Indian restaurant today, eating lunch with TRQ, when suddenly I was DAZZLED by a great idea for a blog post.  I mean it was brilliant.  And as I sat there eating vegetable coconut korma while advising TRQ on her hair color, I framed the whole post in my head.

Only now I've forgotten it.  Boom.  I walked through the front door of my house and that idea just skedaddled right out of my brain.

This is happening to me a lot right now.  Ideas for books!  Columns!  Blog posts!  are racing out of my head like kids running out the classroom door for recess.

Please.  Tell me.  How do you get those kids to come back inside and sit in their seats long enough for you to remember what it was you wanted to say?

Any little tricks for remembering your brilliant ideas that occur to you at inopportune moments?


8 comments:

radagast said...

I hear you, sister. I always have a piece of paper and pen in my pocket. It is no exaggeration to say that I would wander through the week in a fog without it.

Louise Plummer said...

Gone for good. Gone. Gone. Gone. Gone.

Lisa B. said...

I can sometimes summon things back if I make myself sit and go through the physical sensations right around the moment when I had the thought. Only sometimes. But I always do try.

Amelia said...

I was going to suggest putting it on a handheld device (phone, ipod) which all have a notebook function. But then I thought that might not be up your street. Lovely notebook, tiny pen, and saying to your companion, "pardon me, I've just had a thought I need to jot down."

Heidi said...

Sometimes I go back to the place where I thought of the idea in the first place. Then I remember, but it doesn't work every time.

cfarr said...

I agree with the others... I have to "recreate " the moment and then I can sometimes remember.

Kim Woodruff said...

If I don't write those kind of thoughts down as soon as possible, I don't usually have a chance of remembering them later. I have a notebook in my purse for ideas that strike when I'm out.

James said...

When you find your thoughts, look to see if my Red Hot Chili Pepers cd is there too. its been missing for a decade now. There is new research that our memorie are never etched in stone, rather they become fluid mash-ups of various details every time we summon them up to the forefront our thoughts. Accordingly, the best way to remember things is to take it all in...smells, sights, tastes, etc. And that explains why I can't my RHCP cd. I was too afraid to taste it.