Hey, I've got an idea...

The last post was on this little book/assessment called Strengths Finder 2.0.  If you haven't read it, you might check it out first for a little background (the post, not the book).  My 5 top strengths came out as Ideation, Responsibility, Strategic, Learner and Input.  Nothing listed that made me cock my head to one side and say 'huh'?  After all, from the time I was 5 years old, my mother described me as the responsible one.  My brother, 13 months older, was the cute one.  My mother swears that I was also cute, but my brother was definitely not responsible.  Anyway, that's fodder for the therapist, not the blog.

The Ideation topping the list helped me understand my 'process' both at my day-job and in my writing.  The Insights section tells me (among other things) that: Because the printed word feeds your mind, you frequently generate original plans, programs, designs, or activities.  It's very likely that you recharge your mind by creating ideas for new projects.  This occurs even before you have completed your current assignment.

This may explain why I've been feeling like I have adult-onset ADD lately.  I'm not lacking focus, I'm just hyper-creative.  I like that explanation so much better.  At work, I've been driving my teammates a little crazy with all my plans, suggestions and possible new programs.  With writing, I've got eleventy-seven different projects all in various stages of development: this month's critique submission was a memoir/essay for a magazine titled The Truth About Santa Claus. I've been working on my secret project a little, but not enough to have it ready to go.  I started revising my very first book about my mom and her boat, Mrs. K and her Little Red Wagon, to make it a little more universal. I've got a query letter in the works to submit In This Chair to another agent.  I've been reading some other early chapter books to try and wrap my head around where I need to go with Bring Your Tools to School.  And of course, there's this blog which is what I write when I tell myself I don't have time to really write.

I may need to develop that Responsibility strength a little more.  All the fabulous ideas in the world won't amount to a hill of beans if I don't push some of them all the way to the finish line.  (This race image makes me giggle because, in 23 years of marriage, my husband swears he's never seen me run.  However, in all things, he is right there behind me with all the encouragement and support a girl could ever hope for so, in that way, this image is dead on!)  I know the finish line is out there.  It's just that I'm still a little fuzzy on the length of the race I entered.  5K?  Marathon?  Either way, it starts with that first step.