How to Nurture an Idea You’re Not Quite Ready to Start

My dream is to be a writer and that one day you, dear reader, would purchase my book and find some sort of enjoyment or positive change.

That may take awhile.

In the meantime, I’ve put most of my efforts towards smaller goals like this blog. This blog is the culmination of my own personal experiences, my convictions, and the insanely relatable but normal things I’ve observed overtime (with a dash of dating fails i.e. my life). I like to think of myself as a modern day storyteller. This blog is my baby.

In the process of taking the idea from my head to putting it into action, there has been a lot of blank space. There were years of uninspired, unmotivated, and seemingly directionless effort. And although I had a rough idea of what I wanted this to be months in advance, I wasn’t quite ready to show the world.

During those moments, the ones in between inspiration, I’ve found that its sometimes hard to keep a dream or idea growing with out concerted effort. I have had to continually remind myself of a few things in the process:

1. Don’t push yourself too early. One of the most fascinating seasons of growth and development for a human being is before they are even born (please stick with me through this scientific analogy; there is a point). There are so many fundamental and foundational things that happen during the 9 months of nurturing a fetus. The eyes that child will see the world are formed. The unique fingerprint is established. They develop a sense of hearing and feeling that only continue to develop and direct them after birth. And in due time, a baby is born. These uninterrupted and hidden processes are the foundation for a healthy new life. An idea or dream is similar. In the waiting period, ideas are being formed and cultivated. Out of excitement & expectation, its easy to rush into the next season. But resit the urge to push yourself out of that season too early. Those sweet moments of growth is what you’ll come to cherish.
2. Be ready to capture your ideas always. I have a section in my iPhone notes. I carry a notepad and pen with me everywhere. And if I’m ever without either of those two, I scramble to write on anything when ideas strike. There have been so many good ideas I’ve forgotten or haven’t had the pleasure to explore all because I forgot to write them down. Capturing these ideas and then bringing them together to synchronize is important. The whole premise behind Post Twenty-five Life started that way. Over the course of a few months, after experiencing a stark difference in investment in my current community compared to others, I began to write those thoughts down. Eventually, I collected all those ideas together and was able to synthesize exactly what I was feeling and make that into my purpose for writing this blog (and if you’re curious about that, read here!)
3. Try everything and fail quickly. For me, one of the biggest obstacles to writing and nurturing that passion is the fear of being bad at what I’m passionate about. Every time I sit to write another blog post, I am inundated with self inflicted pressure to be better than I was yesterday. Honestly, the idea of steady upward growth is unrealistic. Failure is such a great tool for growth and should become your best friend. In your season of waiting, try everything and get comfortable with failure. For me, this meant doing things that encouraged creativity. I began to write music, paint, learn calligraphy, dance, etc. Truthfully, I wasn’t good at most of those things. However, in experiencing those things, I became more aware of my emotions and how to communicate an experience. Those experiences and “fails” have helped me process and write about some of the topics I write about today.

Nurturing a dream before you’re ready to begin can be difficult. But there is so much good that comes from being hidden. As a Christian, I rely heavily on discerning what God’s timing is. Besides that, take the time to develop your idea; once you’ve started, you’ll look back to that season with greater appreciation.