Collecting Stars in a Jar: The Art of Capturing Dreams

I want you to imagine you are lying on the grass on a warm summer night. Above you, the sky is ink-black. Suddenly—ZOOM!

A shooting star trails across the sky.

"Wow!" you say. You point at it. But before your finger is even raised, it is gone. Did you imagine it? Was it real?

Ideas are like shooting stars.

They flash into our brains. "I should build a robot dog!" "I should write a song about pizza!" "I should paint a picture of a blue tiger!"

They are bright and exciting. But they are slippery. If you wait five minutes, you will forget. If you sleep on it, it will be gone forever.

The Dream Jar

I have a special tool. It is the most important tool in my office. It isn't my computer. It isn't my 3D printer.

It is my "Dream Jar."

Okay, it's actually a notebook. (Although a real jar with paper strips would be cool!).

Whenever I see a shooting star (an idea), I catch it! I write it down immediately.

• Idea: An alarm clock that makes coffee. (Written at 7:00 AM)
• Idea: A video game where you play as a cloud. (Written on the bus)
• Idea: What if socks could talk? (Written... I don't know why)

Most of these ideas are silly. I will never build the talking socks.

But that doesn't matter. The habit of catching them matters.

Why We Forget

Our brains are busy. We have to remember homework, and chores, and what our friend said, and the lyrics to that song.

Your brain cleans house every night. It sweeps away the "unimportant" stuff.

If you don't write an idea down, your brain thinks, "Oh, he didn't save this file. Must be trash." Delete.

Writing it down is telling your brain: "This is important! Keep this!"

The Treasure Chest

Here is the best part.

One day, you will be bored. You will be stuck. You will think, "I have nothing to do. I'm not creative."

Then, you will open your Dream Jar.

You will dump out the stars.

"Whoa! I forgot about the Cloud Game! That's actually cool!" "Hey, the Alarm Clock Coffee idea... maybe I can build that with Lego!"

Your past self left treasures for your future self.

Protect Your Stars

Sometimes, other people try to blow out your stars.

You say, "I have an idea for a flying bike!" They say, "That's impossible. Physics says no."

Don't let them steal your star. Put it in your jar. Maybe you can't build it today. Maybe physics does say no today.

But in 20 years? Who knows?

Keep your jar safe. Fill it up. Your imagination is a galaxy, and every star is precious.