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On ownership of ideas

I return, about 6 months later. No, I didn't forget about my blog, nor the people that may (read: may never) read it. Oh no. What I may have forgotten is how valuable an activity blogging can be. 

Where I work now, time is of the essence. Here's an Edward Said nightmare: We are trying to sell to people who have very little to spend; they need to be in many places at once, and are not as mobile as society may think they are. They are sensitive to change, but are demanding about their aspirations. So when it comes to our products, services and sales routes, we are constantly moving, shifting, trying. 

That leaves me with little time to think and do the things I write about here. 

I used to think this situation was a binary choice and, therefore, a problem. However, I have come to think of the "binary" in a different way: It isn't about time; it's about ideas. 

A friend once told me that I would either spend the rest of my life building someone else's idea, or building my own idea. I now realize that as long as one understands the difference, then one is less likely to be confused about about where most of their time goes. 

So, I have come to terms with building someone else's idea until I can sustainably build my own. At the time time, ideas are nobody's to own. They are just ideas, and they come in frequencies beyond what we can individually comprehend. 

Another way to think of all of this is to understand the difference between ideas that belong to people and ideas that belong to the world. 

As always, this may be continued. 
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