That great idea I had

This is a post about a great idea I had while I was out for a walk yesterday.

Unfortunately, it's only about the idea. I'm not exploring the idea itself.

Because I forgot it.

I forgot it in the fewer than ten minutes it took me to get home. Or maybe it was because I was too close to home, and the process of going into the house and talking to my family pushed it out of my mind.

It was a pretty good idea. Maybe not an actual great idea, but not bad. Something worth writing about. A little evolution in my thinking on something or other. Or maybe it wasn't actually that good, and I would have ended up discarding it without writing a word about it.

But I didn't write it down. Or ask Siri to remind me about it. Why didn't I?

Friction and hubris. Friction, in that it was cold outside yesterday. I had gloves on. As it happened, I did have a notebook and pen in my pocket, but they were hard to get to. The phone was similarly inconvenient. It would have meant standing by the side of the road along an awkward curve, feeling exposed, unsafe, and a bit silly standing there scribbling a note. Hubris, in that I thought it was so good and clear that I would remember it.

Ten minutes later, it was gone. My mind had moved on.

It might come back again. Ideas often do. But not always. Sometimes they move on. Maybe the idea will move on to someone else---Elizabeth Gilbert has written about that.

But I do know that more ideas will come. Some not as good, some better. Mostly just different. Or similar.

Next time, I will try harder to capture the idea. But if I don't, I'll try to get the one after that.