My Butterfly Net: A Simple Way to Capture Creative Ideas

I had a couple of topics I was mulling over for the newsletter this week – one around an interesting quote on women and marriage from the book “Mad Mabel” (which I recently finished), and another on some financial infidelity issues a friend is going through with their partner. But both topics are somewhat incendiary – and honestly I feel like that’s the last thing we need right now with the midterm elections around the corner and everything around us, from TV to social media to the news, trying to rile us up.

So I thought I’d bring up something fun and inspiring instead: butterfly nets.

Another financial planner asked me the other day where I get my newsletter ideas from, and I said, “my butterfly net of course!” These are not actually nets for catching butterflies; they are my metaphorical collections of ideas that I gather as they pass by.

I have butterfly nets with ideas for the newsletter, songwriting topics and lyrics, business ideas, interesting travel locations I’ve heard about, and even a list of things I like about my husband, which has come in very handy over 17 years of marriage. 😁

I jot down things people say, lines from books, things that pop into my head, odd slogans… anything that gives me a place to start rather than staring at a blank page when I'm working on something. A couple of weeks ago, I was attending a songwriting workshop and glanced down at my tea bottle, which said “Just Sweet Enough.” That became my latest song, about someone in your life who is just sweet enough to keep around.

Some other ‘butterflies’ I’ve caught in my net recently:

“…like a snake that slithers up your soul”

“She’s the kind of woman where feelings might be facts.”

“A golden goose with rotten eggs”

I don’t know where any of those will go yet, but they are there, fluttering around in my net until they are needed.

And really, that is the fun of having a butterfly net. You don't have to know what you're going to do with an idea when you catch it. You don't even have to know whether it's a good idea. You just have to be curious enough to catch it.

If you're someone who wants to be more creative, whether that's writing, cooking, starting a business, or figuring out what you want the next chapter of your life to look like, I'd encourage you to start your own butterfly net. It can be a notebook, a note on your phone, a running list, or a collection of screenshots. The format doesn't matter. What matters is having somewhere to put the things that catch your attention before they disappear.

So, consider this your invitation to grab a butterfly net of your own. Catch a strange phrase, a passing thought, a question you can't quite answer, or a possibility you haven't quite dared to consider. You never know which little butterfly might turn out to be something awesome.