Started the next Natalie Goldberg book, Wild Mind, and also started a new notebook for my writing warmup/practice. Naia got it for me for Xmas! In today's chapter of Wild Mind, Natalie said to write the first sentence of a story, and just keep going. So I did, using the cover for the inspiration. Came up with a fun and quick story, presented below:

She taped a sign that said “Super Great Ideas” and sat back to see what would happen. It was one of those community-wide garage sales and she had secured a table. Many people wandered by carefully avoiding making eye contact, but she didn’t have to wait too long for a curious customer to come by. 

“How much for one super great idea?” asked the man.

“Ideas are free,” she replied. “It’s putting them into practice that’s costly.”

“Ain’t that the truth. Alright, give me a super great idea.”

“Hmmm. Let me think. For you, the super great idea is to go home and clean out your garage.”

“That… doesn’t seem like a great idea to me. That just sounds like hard work.”

“Yes, it will be hard work. But once you’re done you will be able to use the garage for something super great.”

“Like what?”

“Sorry, one super great idea per person.”

“Ha. You know, I’ve always wanted a home gym, just been too lazy to start…” The man wandered off, dropping a five dollar bill in the tip jar on her table.

The next person who came by also asked how much ideas cost.

“It’s pay what you want. Ideas are so relative, what I think is a great idea you might think is just really bad advice. I don’t want to make anyone angry.”

“So, I can pay you after you give me the idea,” the woman said, nodding thoughtfully.

“Yes. Or! You can choose not to pay at all. Paying me zero dollars totally counts as pay what you want.”

“Ok, I’m ready. What you got?”

She thought for a second or two. “My idea is a combination coffee maker and poetry dispenser. But you have to write the poems.”

The woman raised her eyebrows and looked away to her right, squinting and thinking. “I’m not totally sure I can make it work mechanically, but with a little tinkering… maybe a little fudging on the actual delivery system…. I think I can make that happen! Thank you.” She dropped ten dollars in her tip jar.

And so it went, all day. She dispensed many super great ideas, and brightened many people’s days. She even made over a hundred dollars, which she donated to the women’s emergency shelter that this community sale was in support of. She walked home, which wasn’t far at all, and her Mom was there to greet her.

“How did it go?”

“Really good,” she replied. “That was a super great idea, thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”