The idea of idea gardening
On cultivating the seeds of your inspiration and knowledge
The idea of idea gardening
My Mother is a gardener, and so am I!
My mum has the most beautiful garden in the world! She often says that gardening is her meditation. And it's true — gardening is a great way to relax and clear your head. I love plants! Unfortunately, I don't have the patience required for a green thumb like hers. It's different with my notes though. I nurture a
Take full advantage of the energy inherent in the seed itself, and do whatever’s possible not to disturb it. You may be tempted to intervene and steer its development toward a specific goal or preconceived idea. This may not lead to the most productive of its possibilities at this stage of the process.
Rick Rubin • The Creative Act: A Way of Being: The Sunday Times bestseller
You give the hunch enough nourishment to keep it growing, and plant it in fertile soil, where its roots can make new connections. And then you give it time to bloom.
Steven Johnson • Where Good Ideas Come From
But the truth is that ideas are something that you grow. You plant an idea seed and then you nourish it, and then some parts kind of wither and die off, but then a tree suddenly starts to grow in this random place.
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Collecting seeds is best approached with active awareness and boundless curiosity. It cannot be muscled, though perhaps it can be willed.
Rick Rubin • The Creative Act: A Way of Being
In nature, some seeds lie dormant in anticipation of the season most conducive to their growth. This is true of art as well. There are ideas whose time has not yet come. Or perhaps their time has come, but you are not yet ready to engage with them. Other times, developing a different seed may shed light on a dormant one.
Rick Rubin • The Creative Act: A Way of Being
The seed that doesn't get watered cannot reveal its ability to bear fruit. Collect many seeds and then, over time, look back and see which ones resonate. Sometimes we're too close to them to recognize their true potential, and other times the magical moment that inspired a seed into existence is bigger than the seed itself.
It's generally preferabl
... See moreRick Rubin • The Creative Act: A Way of Being: The Sunday Times bestseller
planting your own “knowledge garden”
Tiago Forte • Building a Second Brain: A Proven Method to Organise Your Digital Life and Unlock Your Creative Potential
Second Brain sounds really technical. I prefer the idea of a “knowledge garden”.
Everything that you see in the world—whether it's a tool or a story—first existed as a seed in someone's mind. And I think that people often assume that ideas are something that you get, like a diamond, or something like that. But the truth is that ideas are something that you grow. You plant an idea seed and then you nourish it, and then some part... See more