:编织你的智慧锦囊

收集你的想法：智慧囊

Remember how I told you your ideas are kind of like fireflies? They flitter about. They glow and go dim. To get a better look at them, you have to catch them and bring them into the light.

还记得我告诉过你么，你的想法像一种萤火虫?他们翩翩起舞。它们发出微弱的光线，为了更好地观察它们，你不得不抓住他们，把它们带到有（更好）光线的地方。

Well, oddly enough, you can catch your ideas with the very same device I used to catch fireflies when I was a boy: a mason jar. Only in this case, the mason jar becomes an idea jar, a place to store all your flashes of insight, potential projects, and half-baked schemes. And since you probably have lots of ideas, the bigger the jar the better.

嗯,奇怪的是,你能用一个石匠用的罐子-- 当我还是一个男孩时我用这样相同的装置用来捕捉萤火虫，捕捉你的想法。只有在这种情况下，石匠罐变成一个智慧囊，一个用来存储你所有闪烁的洞察力、有潜力的项目、和半生不熟的计划的地方。而且当你有可能有许多想法时，锦囊越大越好。

All you have to do is jot down your ideas on scraps of paper, fold them up, and drop them into your idea jar. Then walk away.

所有你所要做的就是在草稿纸上快速写下你的想法，折起来，并把它们放到锦囊中，然后就可以走开了。

Later, when you have the time, the real fun begins. You just pluck a random idea from the jar and play with it.

之后，当你有时间时，真正的乐趣开始了。你只要随机从锦囊中抽出一个想法并去实践它。

You can write about it, draw a picture of it, or create a model of it from a lump of clay. You can talk to it and ask it questions, or even argue with it. The point is simply to do something, anything, with one of your ideas.

你可以把它写下来，绘制成一张图片，或者用一团粘土把它做成一个模型。你可以谈论它，问它问题，甚至与它辩论。重点是用你的其中一个想法简单地去做某件事,任何事情。

You could do this once a day or once a week or once a month, each time selecting another one of your ideas at random and seeing what you can make of it. It’s a pressure-free way to start treating your ideas as if they deserve your attention, and they do.

你可以一天、一周、一个月做一次，每次随机选择另一个你的想法，看你能怎么利用它。这是一个以无压力方式开始对待您的想法，好象它们值得你注意，实际上确实如此。

Of course, you know it doesn’t have to be a jar. It could be a file folder or a shoebox or anything you like, but I think it’s good to keep each idea on a separate piece of paper. That way you can truly select one at random and not waste all your time trying to decide which one to explore.

当然，你知道它不一定非得是个瓶子。它可能是一个文件夹或一个鞋盒或任何你喜欢的东西，但是我认为把你的每个想法保留在每一张单独的纸上这是有好处的。这样，你才能真正随机选择其中之一，而不是浪费所有的时间决定去探索哪一个。

Make this a habit and you’ll get better at it. You’ll find yourself coming up with new and interesting ways to turn your ideas into something more than just vague notions.

养成这个习惯，你会在这方面做得更好。你会发现你把自己想出新的、有趣的方法变成现实的东西，而不仅仅是模糊的概念。

Why not start now? Grab a pen and some scraps of paper and start gathering your ideas. Then toss them in the jar. Can’t wait to see your collection.

为什么不现在就开始呢？抓起一支笔和一些草稿纸开始收集你的想法。然后把它们放进“锦囊”中。（我已）迫不及待想看到你的收集了。