“Man's mind, once stretched by a new idea,
never regains its original dimensions.”
-Oliver Wendell Holmes

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How is the start to your week going? I hope this Monday finds you feeling rejuvenated, inspired and ready to embrace the week like a fresh, blank page in a new journal.

Anyone who knows me personally knows Mondays can be a challenge for me. I love the weekends and the extra time it gives me to work on my dream. But on this particular Monday, I’m feeling pretty hopeful. And I give full credit to Project 180 and the steps it’s motivating me to take.

On Friday, I sent a query letter for a travel story idea. Now I’m playing the waiting game, anticipating the publication’s response. And while that’s exciting (and a bit scary), what really has me feeling charged about this particular pitch is the fact that I was able to take an old idea, a travel story I wrote last year, and turn it into a brand new idea for this different publication.

The concept of taking something old and making it new again isn’t a novel concept for me. I love the challenge and creativity in finding new uses for old things. I do it all the time with Re•Told Journals, my line of vintage book journals and other shabby-chic, upcycled creations. But this marked the first time I took that concept and applied it to my writing projects. I’ve read dozens of articles about writers who take a previously published piece of work, dust it off, tweak it here, redirect the angle a bit there and—viola! A brand-spankin’ new story emerges that can now be published elsewhere.

Ah…the beauty of recycling.

Even without knowing whether this particular publication will be interested in the story idea I pitched, sticking my toe in the water of repurposing past projects has inspired me to go through my files and see what else I can resurrect. My miner's hat is on and my pick axe is in my hand—I'm all set to see what new ideas I can uncover.


Your One Step:

My college journalism professor would tell students new story ideas lie in the common thread that links two completely unrelated ideas. So how about you? Can you find the shared link between two unrelated ideas or forms of creativity to make something new?

If you’re a writer, is there a fresh angle to a story you’ve written? If writing fiction, this might mean playing with the point of view. If writing non-fiction, feature writing for example, can you give it a new slant? Can you find a way to link a story about yoga to a parenting magazine, or a story about social media to a publication about genealogy?

Not a writer? If you’re an artist, is there a way to breathe new life into an old painting? Can you create subsequent paintings to make it part of a series. Or, can you find a new use for a certain medium or tool?

If you knit or crochet, can you turn a scarf into a shawl or a stuffed toy?

This week I challenge you to look at one piece of writing, art or material and ask yourself, what else can I do?

I’d love to see what you come up with, so please feel free to share in the comments to this post or post a link to your blog.




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