Do you give your ideas space to breathe?
Sometimes we can have a good idea—inspiration for something we’d like to try. Maybe it’s a topic we want to write about. Or that we’d like to start a mending circle. Or create a podcast sharing overlooked women's history.
It could be anything really.
And then, in a thousandth of a second, or even less, we dismiss it.
It could sound like this:
I don’t know enough to write about that.
Who wants to join a mending circle?
I’d never have time to create a podcast.
It happens so fast.
Most of the time we don’t even realize we’ve done it. The inspiration is there, a spark, and then it’s gone. We’ve shoved it out of the way or buried it back inside before we even know what we’ve done.
I did this very thing the other day.
I was writing about when I feel connected and when I feel disconnected. And then I thought it’d be interesting explore how social media is a strange intersection between these two states: connection and disconnection.
But before I even had the whole conscious thought formulated, I had dismissed it. I don’t quite remember what I’d said to myself, but it was something like No one would care, and besides, you don’t know anything about that.
It probably only because I’d been in a state of meditative writing that I’d caught myself.
I stopped midsentence in astonishment. I was stunned at how fast I’d just told myself it was a bad idea.
This happens all the time.
To me, to clients, to colleagues. And it happens very often to women. It may for men too, I don’t know. But I do know there’s something real about how as women we tend to shut off our self-expression so quickly.
We stuff down our ideas. And, we just… carry on.
For sure, not every idea is worth pursuing. Many ideas we have can come out of a state of reactivity. We see someone else writing a book, or active on social media. We see them promoting their business in a particular way or being politically active in a certain way. And we instantly think, I should do that too!
And other ideas come out of us trying to solve how to bring our work into the world from within a certain paradigm, one that we’ve learned or seen others deploy. I took a coaching course, so therefore my work in the world should be to set up a coaching business. I got an English major, so I should be a writer. And so on.
Neither of these are fertile ground for expressing yourself authentically.
Nonetheless, if we shut an idea down so quickly that we don’t even realize we’ve done it, we’ll never know the difference.
We won’t be able to tell if that spark is an inspired next step on our journey, guided from within. Or if it’s something we’ve picked up from out there, something that we merely think we should want to do. Knowing the difference gives us valuable information and clarity.
What more is here?
That instant shutting down likely serves a purpose – to keep you tidy and safe, doing exactly what you’ve been doing.
It could be a habit you’ve developed over time. A mindset. A way of thinking. Or it could be something that you’ve been handed down, from your family, and even from your ancestors.
It could be a way of being you don’t even realize is a way of being, like being a fish in the water. The water is just there.
Whatever it is, it’s something that merits paying attention to.
The whispers from your soul, these ideas tend to persist, returning again and again—when you first awaken, when the ivory sheers move in a morning breeze. Or when you drift off to sleep, as your dreams begin to gather at the edges of your bedroom.
They are a quiet reminder of something within you seeking expression.
And the more you’re able to recognize them as such, to give them the space to breathe, the more you can move toward giving them the support, encouragement, and tenderness they need to find their way out into the world.
What idea will you pay attention to this week?