I Should Have Written It Down

Last night, I thought of something to write about today. At the time, I thought, That would make a good blog post. This morning, however, I have absolutely no idea what it was.

I should have written it down.

Back when I was working on my dissertation, I kept a pad of paper and a pen next to my bed. It always took me forever to fall asleep, and while I was lying there waiting for sleep to come, my mind would wander through all sorts of things. Quite often, those thoughts turned to my dissertation. I learned pretty quickly that if inspiration struck and I didn’t write it down, there was a very good chance it would be gone by morning.

You’d think I would have learned my lesson.

Over the years, I’ve discovered that writing things down is about the only reliable way to make sure I remember them. If there’s something I need to do but can’t do at that moment, I write it down. If there’s something I need to tell someone the next time I talk to them, I should write it down. If I have questions for my doctor and an appointment coming up, I make a list because otherwise I’ll inevitably walk out of the appointment and suddenly remember the question I meant to ask.

I learned a long time ago that when inspiration strikes, write it down. Apparently, I just occasionally forget to follow my own advice.

Whatever brilliant—or perhaps completely mundane—idea I had last night is gone this morning. Maybe it will come back to me later today. Maybe it won’t.

Either way, I should have written it down.