The Cartoon Wide-Eyed Moments
We were driving home from a road trip recently when one of my kids started working on a poem in the back seat. I love moments like this—quiet, creative energy filling the car while the scenery rolls by.
She read the lines out loud as she worked:
The trees grow strong and free The flowers, pretty as can be But do not touch the leaves of three…
And then she paused. You could feel the gears turning. She said it again, hoping something would click:
“But do not touch the leaves of three…”
That’s when I chimed in without even thinking: “For you will itch for eternity.”
I glanced in the rearview mirror and saw her eyes go cartoon-wide, like she’d just struck gold. That look of pure delight—like discovering treasure.
It was such a simple, fleeting moment, but it’s stuck with me ever since.
Why? Because it reminded me of 2 things:
1. Our best ideas often come alive in collaboration.
We can spend hours trying to connect the dots in our own heads (and sometimes that’s needed). But when we speak our half-formed ideas out loud—when we let others hear what we’re wrestling with—we invite unexpected sparks.
That line I tossed out wasn’t planned. It was just sitting in the air, waiting for the right moment, the right context. And together we created something that lit up my kid’s imagination.
2. When you feel the "woah" inside, write it down.
When an idea makes your eyes light up or your heart skip…
When a story moves you to tears or laughter…
**Write it down.**
Capture those cartoon wide-eyed moments. They are clues. Clues to what moves you. Clues to what matters. Clues to where the richest ideas are hiding.
A gentle nudge for you (and for me):
Who can you think out loud with this week?
What’s one idea, question, or problem you could bring into a conversation, just to see what happens?
And next time you get that wide-eyed spark—pause long enough to jot it down.
Those sparks are gold.
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