Ideas

I am always very fascinated by ideas. But not just ideas alone, but on what ideas become when action is taken. Sometimes I watch plays, television shows, or films and I think "wow, all of this came from an idea".

Harry Potter, for example, was once just an idea in  J.K. Rowling's mind. What if she never would have acted on it? I think about all of the people's lives that were affected-- all of the people who got jobs, all of the children who found a love of reading, the way pop culture was changed-- simply because she acted on her idea.

In the January, 2012 issue of O magazine I was struck by the ideas of regular people that turned into meaningful work. It made me want to examine what ideas I have that I have not acted on. How many live could be changed by an idea of mine?

Ashley Schoenith, one of the featured business owners in O this month, started her very own apron company. Yes, aprons! Her company Ice Milk Aprons was started because she came up with an idea for a way to spend more time with her elderly grandmother. Growing up she spent a lot of time in the kitchen with her grandmother. In order to recapture that quality time they began sewing aprons together. Now, Ashley has a full-fledged business that will always keep her close to her grandmother who passed away in 2008. Also, she is helping others to create memories of their own when using her products.

Monica Haslip had an idea. When she saw children on the Southside of Chicago had no  place to go for recreation, and were turning to lives of crime she began giving them art lessons. At first she gave these lessons in the basement of her home. Soon, however, she was given a grant worth more than $400,000 to continue her work! Now, Haslip has a building for her arts center which she named Little Black Pearl. The center also serves as a high school which educates more than 175 at risk youth.

It all starts with an idea. What ideas do you have that you need to act on? Who will your ideas help? The effects of you acting on your idea, may go farther than you could ever imagine.