I like the way the late filmmaker David Lynch (The Elephant Man, Mulholland Drive) talked about ideas.
He said, “Ideas are like fish. You don’t make the fish; you catch the fish. Desiring an idea is like putting bait on a hook and lowering it into the water. There are no original ideas. It’s just the ideas that you caught.”
Catching ideas versus inventing them. This mentality makes ideas feel less intimidating. More accessible.
It’s like there’s a process to finding them when you think of ideas in this context. It’s not some gift or special talent that only creative people have. If you work at something long and hard enough, the idea will show itself.
The idea already exists; you just need to put yourself in the position to catch it.
“Trillions and zillions of ideas,” said David Lynch. “And they’re all there, bubbling and ready to be caught.”