# Best Dream-Drome?



## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

Where's your best Dream-Drome - the place where you tend to get your best creative ideas and indulge in the most pleasing plans for the future?
The poll is multi-choice; please let's have some details - anecdotes - or jokes as well.
Thanks for any replies.


----------



## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

I voted for 'in my bedroom', 'walking in the fresh air' and 'doodling or drawing'.
Of course, the type of dreams and ideas thought up differ from place to place.

My bedroom is also my computer den and violin practice room. Lots of happy ideas about clothes - I love clothes - come to me while I'm dressing or applying make up. My computer is the source of lovely images and generally brings on dreams of where I'd like to travel or where our next holiday can be. And playing my fiddle, I enter Dreamland itself - full of Scottish atmosphere and Celtic gracenotes - and it may even feel possible, for a brief moment, that I'll be good enough to play in public or fast enough (in ten years' time) to play for dancers. 

Walking in the fresh air generally brings on mystical ideas about God, the universe, my life and death, and my destiny. The works of nature are so inspiring - in the suburbs, the beautiful gardens - in the country, the birds and trees and animals - and in the town, the faces of the people that you meet.

The best way for me to think about problems - domestic, musical or social - is when I'm drawing. It occupies one part of my mind and the rational part is then freer to meditate and understand.


----------



## Taggart (Feb 14, 2013)

I voted for in a brown study and sitting at the piano. Unfortunately they often turn out to be the same thing!

Unlike Jimmy Durante, when I'm sitting at the piano, my heart is rarely ill at ease. There's just so much good music to inspire me (if only I could play it). It provides stimulation for the conscious mind and frees the unconscious to dream.


----------



## mirepoix (Feb 1, 2014)

Sitting in a chair, relatively undisturbed. And there I often get ideas - mostly for photos - from music and books. I find it easy to fall into them and wander and wonder. Something that brings a seemingly obvious image to mind which can be played with until it becomes the seed of another and different idea, then I chase that one down and so on and so forth. But sometimes an idea gets stuck - a current example being Yeats and _'O CLOUD-PALE eyelids'_ and I have to stand up and move around to forget about it for a while. But it always returns until it's finally resolved.


----------



## Posie (Aug 18, 2013)

For me... on a bridge over flowing water, walking through the woods (as a variation of the garden), and strangely, in a very urban area.


----------



## Posie (Aug 18, 2013)

Ingélou said:


> I voted for 'in my bedroom', 'walking in the fresh air' and 'doodling or drawing'.
> Of course, the type of dreams and ideas thought up differ from place to place.
> 
> My bedroom is also my computer den and violin practice room. Lots of happy ideas about clothes - I love clothes - come to me while I'm dressing or applying make up. My computer is the source of lovely images and generally brings on dreams of where I'd like to travel or where our next holiday can be. And playing my fiddle, I enter Dreamland itself - full of Scottish atmosphere and Celtic gracenotes - and it may even feel possible, for a brief moment, that I'll be good enough to play in public or fast enough (in ten years' time) to play for dancers.
> ...


I recently googled pictures of Norfolk, England. It's such a beautiful, wonderful place for dreaming.


----------



## clara s (Jan 6, 2014)

mirepoix said:


> Sitting in a chair, relatively undisturbed. And there I often get ideas - mostly for photos - from music and books. I find it easy to fall into them and wander and wonder. Something that brings a seemingly obvious image to mind which can be played with until it becomes the seed of another and different idea, then I chase that one down and so on and so forth. But sometimes an idea gets stuck - *a current example being Yeats and 'O CLOUD-PALE eyelids'* and I have to stand up and move around to forget about it for a while. But it always returns until it's finally resolved.


aha, overthrown by a woman's gaze

that's how you get your most creative ideas?


----------



## clara s (Jan 6, 2014)

Ingélou said:


> I voted for 'in my bedroom', 'walking in the fresh air' and 'doodling or drawing'.
> Of course, the type of dreams and ideas thought up differ from place to place.
> 
> My bedroom is also my computer den and violin practice room. Lots of happy ideas about clothes - I love clothes - come to me while I'm dressing or applying make up. My computer is the source of lovely images and generally brings on dreams of where I'd like to travel or where our next holiday can be. And playing my fiddle, I enter Dreamland itself - full of Scottish atmosphere and Celtic gracenotes - and it may even feel possible, for a brief moment, that I'll be good enough to play in public or fast enough (in ten years' time) to play for dancers.
> ...


your writing is really strong

have you ever tried to write a novel, inspired on the beautiful Cromer cliffs?

that will be a nice place to get your ideas


----------



## mirepoix (Feb 1, 2014)

clara s said:


> aha, overthrown by a woman's gaze
> 
> that's how you get your most creative ideas?


I believe so, yes. But I should add that even if I'm able to develop the idea and distill it to the point where I'd be able to shoot it, it's not always worth pursuing. I think it's important to have enough discipline so that you can recognise the difference between a clear idea, and a good or interesting clear idea.

Also, I'm sure it's possible to create a body of work solely from capturing what's within (or what you perceive and feel is within) a woman's gaze.


----------



## ptr (Jan 22, 2013)

Anywhere, I just open up and let my brain storm!

/ptr


----------



## mirepoix (Feb 1, 2014)

I also like the answer that the author Stephen King used to give when he was tired of being asked where he gets his ideas from; "A jar on my desk".


----------



## clara s (Jan 6, 2014)

mirepoix said:


> I believe so, yes. But I should add that even if I'm able to develop the idea and distill it to the point where I'd be able to shoot it, it's not always worth pursuing. I think it's important to have enough discipline so that you can recognise the difference between a clear idea, and a good or interesting clear idea.
> 
> Also, I'm sure it's possible to create a body of work solely from capturing what's within (or what you perceive and feel is within) a woman's gaze.


mirepoix,

first, no man can ever capture what really is within a woman's gaze

only perceptions, yes.

as for your first paragraph, I totally agree,
although for you men, it's difficult to see the difference,
when the gaze is devious hahaha


----------



## mirepoix (Feb 1, 2014)

clara s said:


> mirepoix,
> 
> first, no man can ever capture what really is within a woman's gaze
> 
> ...


Even if it's futile that's part of what makes it worthwhile. And then you need to bring your honesty in order to ensure that what you believe you see in her eyes isn't coloured by preconceived notions, distorted by unreasonable ideals, or perhaps tainted by what might remain from a gaze you've fallen under in the past. The clearest perception and best route for avoiding the devious is to never shoot her at an angle from below - pedestals don't help, unless there's room for you both to stand on the same one.
Wow. Off topic.
On topic - I always carry a little notepad and a pen in which I write down any ideas I have in case I forget them. But sometimes I think that it's a waste of time, because if the idea is one that's strong and honest and valid enough, I'd naturally never forget it.


----------



## shangoyal (Sep 22, 2013)

Dreams don't see time, place or predicament to come wandering into my head.


----------



## Vesteralen (Jul 14, 2011)

Driver passing my car on the highway: "Who's that guy talking to?"

My problem is that I think better when I'm talking. Silent pondering never seems to get me anywhere.


----------



## Guest (Aug 21, 2014)

Sitting on the porcelain throne.


----------



## Lukecash12 (Sep 21, 2009)

Wherever the music is and wherever I left my stash


----------



## shangoyal (Sep 22, 2013)

Vesteralen said:


> Driver passing my car on the highway: "Who's that guy talking to?"
> 
> My problem is that I think better when I'm talking. Silent pondering never seems to get me anywhere.


Same here! I am often surprised by the thoughts that emerge once I start talking to myself, aloud that is.


----------



## Headphone Hermit (Jan 8, 2014)

I tend to get a barrage of abuse when I point out that creativity is a contested concept ... so it is easier for me to say that I am not creative - sigh!


----------



## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Ideas simply pop into my head spontaneously. Too many to write down sometimes.

All those 30 or so "stupid thread ideas" simply emerged from my brain one after the other. I didn't have to think about them. Just needed a pen to write them all down. Too many ideas, sometimes! Just sit at the computer and write them all down.

Hyperactive brain. No special place needed. Just a pen and a lot of paper.
That's just me, I guess.


----------



## Cheyenne (Aug 6, 2012)

Any window will do. There was a time when I stared out of windows with great frequency; I dropped the habit this year, in favor of more social activities! After I've read anything good -- poetry especially -- I do constantly get intriguing thoughts "popping" into my head, usually in bed. I always hasten to scribble them down somewhere. 

Listening to lengthy music -- Mahler, Bruckner -- I often catch myself day-dreaming, and consequently missing about half of the piece. Oops!


----------



## Lukecash12 (Sep 21, 2009)

Cheyenne said:


> Any window will do. There was a time when I stared out of windows with great frequency; I dropped the habit this year, in favor of more social activities! After I've read anything good -- poetry especially -- I do constantly get intriguing thoughts "popping" into my head, usually in bed. I always hasten to scribble them down somewhere.
> 
> Listening to lengthy music -- Mahler, Bruckner -- I often catch myself day-dreaming, and consequently missing about half of the piece. Oops!


Yeah, wait a few years and you'll often catch yourself dreaming. I do love a good symphony but sometimes it's just the soundtrack for a nap.


----------



## Jos (Oct 14, 2013)

Walking in the forrest, not too sunny preferably, no company except for my dogs.

Cheers,
Jos


----------



## clara s (Jan 6, 2014)

mirepoix said:


> Even if it's futile that's part of what makes it worthwhile. And then you need to bring your honesty in order to ensure that what you believe you see in her eyes isn't coloured by preconceived notions, distorted by unreasonable ideals, or perhaps tainted by what might remain from a gaze you've fallen under in the past. The clearest perception and best route for avoiding the devious is to never shoot her at an angle from below - pedestals don't help, unless there's room for you both to stand on the same one.
> Wow. Off topic.
> On topic - I always carry a little notepad and a pen in which I write down any ideas I have in case I forget them. But sometimes I think that it's a waste of time, because if the idea is one that's strong and honest and valid enough, I'd naturally never forget it.


off topic

there is never tainted gaze, devious maybe, but never tainted

by the way, pedestals are not bad, if somebody can keep his/her balance on it 

on topic

yes, a strong idea is always present in our mind

no doubt


----------



## TxllxT (Mar 2, 2011)

Best place for ideas:
1) When my wife reads to me aloud from a book (at present we read Nadezhda Mandelstam's Second Book).
2) While preaching (from the heart) out of the pulpit.
3) Reading the Good Book in Hebrew & Greek, letting the originals shout at me.
4) Comparing the famous light of Dutch painters (Vermeer, Rembrandt, Van Gogh) with the real thing.
5) Enjoying typical Dutch skies & associating them with the painters' skies. 
6) Walking along the beach, noticing how new everything is, listening how the ebb tide changes into flood.
7) Listening to fugues (Bach & Shostakovich).
8) Reading architecture from a building.
9) Thinking about what we will eat tomorrow.
10) While dreaming a dream.


----------



## PetrB (Feb 28, 2012)

Uh, the part of my head under the dome of my skull!

The nice thing... it is far less locale dependent _and_ highly portable, to boot!


----------



## mirepoix (Feb 1, 2014)

clara s said:


> off topic
> 
> there is never tainted gaze, devious maybe, but never tainted
> 
> ...


When I speak of 'tainted' I refer to the photographer allowing a negative experience from his/her past to behave as a filter between the lens and the subject - thus blocking the truth of the gaze. And that's dishonest.

Other times and places when I have ideas:
While shaving. I find shaving a bore, so I tend to zone out and away for the duration.
While running. In the morning the air is still fresh and clear and so are my thoughts.

And on many small notebooks containing big ideas to be pursued -









- I sometimes ask myself _"What on earth was I thinking of here?"_


----------



## ProudSquire (Nov 30, 2011)

I chose in my bedroom, listening to music and walking in the fresh air. A lot of ideas alight when I am most intimate and engaged with music, and it occurs with moderate frequency. It's really difficult for me to dream new ideas when I'm confined to my bedroom because there are simply too many distractions. :}


----------



## Andreas (Apr 27, 2012)

shangoyal said:


> Same here! I am often surprised by the thoughts that emerge once I start talking to myself, aloud that is.


There is a classic text on this very subject.


----------



## Lukecash12 (Sep 21, 2009)

Andreas said:


> There is a classic text on this very subject.


A very fun read, and maddening too. This little piece epitomizes the problem for people on the ASD spectrum: all kinds of ideas but profound difficulties in thought construction during speech.


----------



## clara s (Jan 6, 2014)

where do i best get my ideas...

lying on the couch and looking on the ceiling, 
not the ceiling of capella sistina, but of my room

I like to travel through the chambers of my mind,
no specific destination, but just travel continuously,
until the idea shows me the exit


----------



## clara s (Jan 6, 2014)

mirepoix said:


> When I speak of 'tainted' I refer to the photographer allowing a negative experience from his/her past to behave as a filter between the lens and the subject - thus blocking the truth of the gaze. And that's dishonest.
> 
> Other times and places when I have ideas:
> While shaving. I find shaving a bore, so I tend to zone out and away for the duration.
> ...


really now, what were you thinking of there? hahaha


----------



## mirepoix (Feb 1, 2014)

clara s said:


> really now, what were you thinking of there? hahaha


In this instance I decided to put four lights on someone. However that's only the beginning because there are so many variables involved; distance, depth of field, lighting ratios, types of modifier etc. So as soon as possible it's important that I reduce the options open to me. 
But more important is the drawing at the very bottom and centre of the page: behold my amazingly and technically accurate almost life-like depiction of a camera!


----------



## clara s (Jan 6, 2014)

mirepoix said:


> In this instance I decided to put four lights on someone. However that's only the beginning because there are so many variables involved; distance, depth of field, lighting ratios, types of modifier etc. So as soon as possible it's important that I reduce the options open to me.
> *But more important is the drawing at the very bottom and centre of the page: behold my amazingly and technically accurate almost life-like depiction of a camera*!


yes I noticed this depiction and what you write here is undoubtedly very touching

because I just thought

If somebody really loves what he is doing, he will never lack of ideas, no matter where he might find himself


----------



## Varick (Apr 30, 2014)

I was going to say brown study until I realized my study was a slate-blue.

V


----------



## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

The best source of ideas is probably an overnight delay - while I'm sleeping, the night shift at Mollbrain .com are hard at work.

PS Before I put a space in it, Moll-brain-dot-com came up as a blue link, 'No web page available'.
Figures...


----------



## Huilunsoittaja (Apr 6, 2010)

Listening to music always puts me in a creative writing mood. A few nights ago, I listened through the whole Two Towers soundtrack and wrote a chapter of a story in that time frame.


----------



## JACE (Jul 18, 2014)

After I've ridden my motorcycle, I always feel like my mind is especially clear and I can come up with good ideas.

Maybe because -- at its best -- motorcycling requires you to not think about anything other than responding to what's coming at you. It's a sort of meditation that blows out the cobwebs.


----------



## Igneous01 (Jan 27, 2011)

When I was working construction I had my best ideas come to me. There's just something about being physically active (a passive activity) and planning/imagining ideas (active part of what I am doing). 

So even though I was on a scaffold insulating a fairly difficult cathedral ceiling, my mind was completely elsewhere, imagining how I would structure a new composition, and which pieces of music would I draw from as guide's for how to approach writing it. Unfortunately, after 9-10 hours of labor, I was too tired to pursue my ideas 

Thankfully I decided to write them down on my phone for later.


----------



## JACE (Jul 18, 2014)

Igneous01 said:


> When I was working construction I had my best ideas come to me. There's just something about being physically active (a passive activity) and planning/imagining ideas (active part of what I am doing).


Yes, I've experienced this too. Hard physical work can liberate your mind.


----------



## Antiquarian (Apr 29, 2014)

I find that most of my creative ideas come to me as I walk, usually at a rattling pace through the countryside, where I am alone and unbothered. I carry a notebook with me, to sketch a scene, or to outline an idea at the moment it occurs.


----------



## Vasks (Dec 9, 2013)

OTHER - Two places: First in my home office is where I compose (and do Internet-thingys like TC). Then after composing I take a shower and it's in the shower that I keep thinking/dreaming about the piece I was working on and imaging what's next with it


----------



## SiegendesLicht (Mar 4, 2012)

JACE said:


> Yes, I've experienced this too. Hard physical work can liberate your mind.


Same here. When I was a college student, I used to do warehouse work that was entirely physical. After a while I found myself reciting poems to myself, thinking about everything in the world or even preaching to myself.

As for my best place to dream, it depends on the kind of dreams. I dream of meeting my man in the snow-covered Bavaria while listening to Bach's organ music, I dream of idealized nature when listening to Wagner, I get ideas for stories I hope to write some day or for my own future while using any kind of transportation, from the bicycle to the airplane (just the sensation of fast moving forward seems to help my dreaming), and I dream of nothing in particular while walking through the forest or sitting on the beach.


----------



## Giordano (Aug 10, 2014)

Doing manual/physical work is when I get ideas most clearly. 
In general, though, I get ideas when I *need* to...


----------



## Posie (Aug 18, 2013)

Last night, I had a dream that I was browsing TC.  I have a problem.


----------

