Love Your Ideas

I heard someone the other day repeat the old phrase “don’t fall in love with your ideas”, a warning to creative people to avoid getting too attached to their concepts. It’s usually intended as a reminder not to take criticism of your idea too personally, lest you defend components of your idea so forcefully that you risk offending others involved in the project who might retaliate by killing any chance your idea sees the light of day in any way, shape, or form — but when your brain gives birth to an exciting concept, you can’t help but love your ideas because they are part of you. It would be akin to telling someone not to love their arm or not to love their ankle. They are part of you and you cannot separate your feelings anymore than you would want to separate the body part.

You should love your ideas as if they were your children

If you’re a parent (or had a parent) you know what I mean.
It doesn’t matter how much trouble you caused or how much you misbehaved or what family heirloom you broke in the house (and tried to blame the breakage on a sibling!) — your parents still loved you.

The kind of unconditional love should be reserved for all the things we create, whether they are tiny versions of ourselves or mental manifestations of our creative imagination.

Creators love their ideas (and hate them) more than anyone else every will.
We see every piece of potential pulsing under the surface, and we obsess over every flaw that seems to leap out at us.

Being in love with your ideas means you can’t wait to share them with the world and find the other people who will get just as excited about your idea as you are.

When you love your ideas you will champion them more effectively than anyone else. When you love your ideas you have the power to be both Dreamer and Doer because few things can stop you from putting your idea into action and making it a reality.

If you don’t love your ideas, who will?