Some Ideas burst into life on demand. You reach out and…boom! 

A problem, solved.

Other ideas or solutions to a problem are more awkward. Maybe they’re not so clear cut? Fraught. Many angles. The answers flit nervously at the edges of our mind like timid woodland animals & we dare not stare at them directly. Don’t scare them until they’re fully in focus!

And that’s why I take to the beach each morning.

I walk, while my companion (Young Master Pippin) leaps & runs with excited joy. 

The Dawn is constant, and every Dawn is different.

I enjoy the ever shifting colours and seascape, trying to catch the light with my camera. Trying to catch a sense of the Sea. 

I throw rocks & make dazzling explosions of water & golden sunlight. Pippin’s red hair compliments the sunrise perfectly – and he’s such a poser!

My feet, invariably, get soaked.

It’s always my hope that we’ll get to see something extraordinary…and often, we do. And on the grey days, Pippin provides the entertainment instead.

And it’s in this time that I let my mind wander where it will, letting the ideas flow and start to form of their own volition.

Not forced.

No pressure.

Don’t think about them directly- look at the sea & the sky!

And when Pippin & I finally leave the beach, ready for the day… Ta da! The ideas have arrived!

I need this time. It’s not work time, strictly speaking, but necessary for my head to work.

How do you arrive at a creative solution to a difficult brief? Solitude? The company of friends? The park? The shower?

May I recommend a long walk on the shore?