Ideas as Parasites
If you don't birth them, they'll find another Host
Have you ever had an idea, wanted to do something with it, but procrastinated - only to find that someone else has implemented it? Maybe not exactly the same, but similar enough that you think “That was my idea!”
This has happened to me many times.
Or in some cases, an idea gets hold of me and won’t let go. It makes me drop everything else until it’s realized. Like it’s demanding to be born and won’t take no for an answer.
I often have this crazy imagination that ideas are parasites. They move from one host to another until they’re implemented. Or they even occupy multiple hosts at the same time to maximize their chances of being birthed. Think about it - how many times have you seen similar ideas emerge independently around the same time? Different people in different places are suddenly working on the same concept. Maybe the idea found multiple hosts simultaneously, trying to increase its odds of survival.
When people say they want to protect their ideas or are scared someone will steal them, I think about this parasite thing. Following this imaginary thread, you could say that sharing an idea with someone is the same as infecting them with it. If they’re a suitable host - if the idea resonates with them, if they have the capability and drive to implement it - then they might birth that idea too. Maybe that explains the fear of sharing ideas, the fear that they’ll be stolen.
However if you’re not going to do anything with it anyway, the idea will find another host who will. The idea doesn’t care whose name is on it. It just wants to exist.
This whole exchange of ideas reminds me of a quote I saw once that went something like this: “If you have an apple and I have an apple and we exchange them, each of us leaves with one apple. But if you have an idea and I have an idea and we exchange them, each of us leaves with two.”
Ideas multiply when shared. They don’t diminish. So maybe we should all infect each other with ideas. The world might be a better place if more good ideas found hosts willing to birth them instead of letting them die in isolation.
What ideas have infected you that felt like they just had to be implemented?
What ideas have you had, done nothing with, and then saw materialize elsewhere?
I'm actually living this right now. There's an idea that got hold of me a while back and wouldn't let go. It kept showing up in my thoughts until I finally just had to implement it. The idea has been birthed and I'll share what it is in a few days 🙂.
Well said Myriam. And so true.