Idea Journal

Back in December, I was given some money as Christmas and birthday gifts.  $170 total, which is a whole heck of a lot of money to me these days so I'm not about to go and blow it without some serious thought.  $70 I'm setting aside so John and I can make some household improvements (like finally getting something with which to decorate the bare walls of our dining room).  The other $100 I've set aside for myself, and have been going back and forth in my head as to what on earth I'm going to do with it.  Do I go shopping for (much needed) clothes?  Or maybe have a nice dinner at a favorite restaurant?  Maybe some new kitchen-y stuff?

There was one thing I knew I wanted to spend it on from the beginning, but it seemed so lame I almost couldn't admit to it.  But yesterday I did it: I went out and bought a notebook.  That's right, I "splurged"--$6.56 at Target for a really cute stone notebook and three little mini notebooks to carry around in my bag.

I'm calling the stone notebook my Idea Journal.  I was so excited about it, I was seriously giddy holding it as I walked out the door.  

The Big Idea
You see, I'm a big picture, big idea person with a lot of interests and a lot of creativity.  The result is that I often have huge inspirations and absolutely no follow through.  I lose focus so easily and so entirely that good ideas just get lost or crowded out by newer ideas that steal my momentary attention.  To put it frankly, I become "flighty."  Even in just the last year, I can't even begin to list the number of ideas I've had for starting my own business or writing a book or traveling somewhere or doing something crazy.

I realize that 99.9% of my ideas are just that: ideas.  They belong out in the ether to die away because nothing ever should come of them.  But, because I have never developed a way to think about them in depth or sort through them and organize my thoughts, even the .1% that have a good chance of becoming something die away too.  And that is a true shame.

So I bought my stone notebook.  I hope whatever I chose to spend the remaining $93.44 on brings me as much happiness.