June 15: Ideas
Grafting Ideas
I am writing this blog to you just after coming home from having a small piece of tissue from the roof of my mouth grafted to the bottom of my teeth where the gum line is receding (due to grinding in my sleep). I was fascinated (riveted) during the surgery with the stitching that was happening in my mouth. How do they do it? Will I feel anything? Do they use a needle? What is the thread made out of? Will it heal? Who came up with this idea? And then I wondered, what is the connection between grafting, stitching, healing, and ideating?
If you get queasy with the thought of surgery, you might want to skip the next part and start reading after “Wow!"
Let me think this through with you. . .local anesthesia is given to numb the gums, the area is cleaned, incisions are made to create a small flap in the gum, the gum graft is harvested from inner tissue in the roof of the mouth, the gum graft is placed over the exposed teeth roots (where the recession is happening), and then stitching happens to keep it all in place for the next two weeks. Once the stitches are removed, the gum graft is now complete.
Wow!
I think what is really resonating for me in this is that (1) space is made for something new, (2) it needs time for receiving and healing, (3) and stitching allows for healing to become fully integrated (and then it comes out).
What if we had this same care for ideas?
I imagine care for ideas in these ways:
We hold space and care for the ideas we have.
We hold space and care for those who share ideas.
We hold space and care for those receiving ideas.
We hold space and care for the stitching of ideas.
We hold space and care for the letting go of recessed ideas.
We hold space and care for ideas to heal.
Who knew that a visit to the periodontist would inspire me, but that is how ideas work. They connect what appears to be disconnected and are applied to something unexpected. I think that is what is so beautiful about any creative endeavour.
Why are ideas scary?
The truth is ideas are scary. When we feel safe: we can create, share, and receive ideas. When we are told our ideas are wrong, impossible, stupid, a waste of time, or don’t make sense. . .we shut down. We stop creating, sharing, and receiving ideas.
If you have five minutes, I highly recommend listening to the author Kobi Yamada read this children’s book “What do you do with an Idea?”
Kobi asks these fundamental questions:
what is an idea?
how does an idea make us feel?
what do you do with an idea?
what does an idea do with you?
how do you let go of an idea?
How do ideas get shared?
If you listened to the book “What do you do with an idea?”, you will hear that eventually ideas can take flight and become everywhere. This takes a lot of trust and patience; especially in a world that demands production and perfection with urgency. There isn’t a lot of space for creating or caring for ideas, but as Kobi writes in the book, it is how we change the world.
When I was thinking about how I could visually communicate the sharing of ideas, I thought about the filtering of ideas. Personally, I know that most often my ideas are just so out there. Sometimes so far away in imagination with language still unknown that I need to walk backwards from them. I can do this when I feel like I’m in a safe space. It’s why I created this blog, to have a safe space to share ideas with a community who is willing to listen to my draft ideas. A space where I can filter ideas backwards.
For this month’s art word, I decided to stitch into a coffee filter the word “idea.”.I know there is an expression of filtering oneself to control what is being seen or heard (just think of all the filtering that happens on social media about our lives), but I am thinking of filtering as a way for sharing with more people (I’m not thinking of filtering as watering down ideas). Because it is only through sharing that we can make ideas come to life.
What struck me in doing the embroidery on the coffee filter was how fragile the paper was. It has to be strong enough to hold coffee beans and have hot water poured through, but it could also easily break. Sometimes the creation, sharing, or receiving of ideas is like that too. They are too big and they/we break because we just aren’t ready for them yet. . .in the creating, sharing, and receiving.
“Ideas” by Geraldine M Ysselstein (2024). Cotton embroidery on coffee filter.
How do we apply grafting, stitching, healing, and ideating to the non-profit arts and culture sector?
I have said this before and I will continue to say it until I see some change. The non-profit arts and culture sector has a tendency to put the ideas of artists, creatives, innovators, and imaginations on a wall or in a hall.
Here are some questions:
Where do we make space to identify where recession has happened in our old held ideas?
Where do we identify the abundance of ideas in what we might already have elsewhere?
Where do we make space for healing from old ideas so we can make space for new ideas?
When do we let go of stitching and fully embrace the new ideas?
The non-profit arts and culture sector is not unlike any other sector. We are driven by ideas that will make money and support personal egos/agendas rather than allowing ideas be part of changing the world. We trick ourselves into thinking that we are sharing the ideas of artists and creatives to change the world while we refuse to be changed ourselves. So, how do we embrace ideas? We begin with ourselves.
I’m going to rest now as that is how ideas and healing from gum grafting takes place. But, before I go. . .here are some questions about beginning to heal our experiences with ideas.
Questions:
How do ideas arrive for you?
2. How do you listen to the ideas of those around you?
3. If you have an idea that has been nagging you, what’s stopping you from sharing that idea?
