Hundreds, thousands probably.

The number of times I’ve lost a good idea to the wind in my lifetime is unfathomable.

I don’t mean earth-shattering, human-life-altering ideas. It could be as simple as “A thing I really needed to pick up at the grocery store and now I need to make a second trip.”

But who knows? Maybe I could have solved world hunger or found a solution to nuclear fusion.

I don’t remember all of the thoughts that pop into my squishy bag of neurons.

And neither do you.

Although it pains me almost daily the number of times I come up with a cool idea to write about, or, at the very least, think about writing about — only to forget about mere moments after thinking: I’ll remember this.

I’ve gotten a lot better at it over time. Part of the reason I’ve been able to keep up a daily writing practice on this website is because I’ve started writing down every idea that’s popped into my head.

Sometimes they’re a steaming pile of garbage. Sometimes they’re so bad I don’t even publish them.

But At least I have them.

Still, sometimes I miss a few zingers.

An idea will pop into my head at an intersection, right as the light turns green. There’s little I can do without pissing off everyone around me. So I tell myself that I’ll remember it long enough to pull over just a few blocks ahead.

And when I do?

It’s gone. Not nothing, though. Just a strange vapour of what was thought, like the smoke from a fire whisping into the sky. It’s still there… just. Then it’s not.

If you have an idea, no matter how mundane it may seem at the time, write it down. They come to us at an outstanding frequency yet we focus on so few.

When a thought comes, if you can, write that shit down. Don’t trust your brain.

You will forget it.