It still surprises me when a light bulb flash turns into an aha moment. Yesterday I had light bulb flash that grew and grew until it gave me a big smack upside back of my head this morning.Yesterday was like most of my days, yet while writing yesterday’s article, I stopped mid sentence, and my thoughts went back to an ezine article I read early that morning. It was one of those times when your thoughts completely jump to another circuit -- you know kind.
Quickly I dashed down hall and corner with lightening speed. Not. Just walked. I had always wanted to write that, I know cute, Catherine. What caught my attention was contest announcement in that ezine. I remembered that Janice (name not changed to protect innocent) would be interested in information since she wrote poetry. I found it and e-mailed her info. Cut and dry, huh? I thought so to, but not quite.
Later that evening during our coaching session, Janice mentioned how she appreciated information but she didn't write poetry for children. Oops, I didn't even see that important detail. However, she appreciated thought and explained that it gave her a flash of another contest she knew about that she had always wanted to enter. As she was talking about this, I remembered my childhood try at poetry. "Now where did I put those" came to mind.
Yes, you guess it; I went looking for my old poems after call. Including staying up past midnight reading them again and chuckling on my mindset at time. I even wrote quote a few on President Kennedy’s death -- but that’s another topic. I chose three, submitted them, and went to bed pleased with myself about taking some action with them.
Did you know that difference between a light bulb moment and an aha moment is depth of experience in whatever is occurring. Light bulb is flash, aha is when you make connections between that and other experiences in your life.
This morning aha part of light bulb moment hit me -- marketing aspect to all this. In order to give you a complete picture, let me including "ad" I found in ezine. This is a quote.
*************** AD ********
Half Price Books' 10th Annual Bedtime Story Contest DEADLINE: December 1, 2003 GENRE: Children's fiction and poetry OPEN TO: All, except employees of Half Price Books and The Texas Bookman, or any agents or affiliates thereof. LENGTH: Stories: up to 300 words; Poems: up to 50 lines. THEME: To promote literacy and encourage people to read, Half Price Books will publish a book featuring winning stories. All proceeds from sale of book fund literacy and education projects. All entries should be appropriate to be read to and by children, ages 8 and under. We do not require our authors to illustrate their own stories. However, if you are an artist and would like to submit your artwork along with your story or poem, we encourage you to do so. All entries must be typed and include your name, address, phone number and e-mail address. Entries, whether mailed or e-mailed, that do not include contact information will be disqualified. See our online contest guidelines for more information. PRIZES: Grand Prize: $200 gift card from Half Price Books; 2nd Prize: $100 gift card; 3rd Prize: $50 gift card; Finalists: $20 gift card ELECTRONIC ENTRY: Yes, must be in MS Word or rich text formats. ADDRESS: Half Price Books, ATTN: Bedtime Story Contest, 5803 E Northwest Hwy, Dallas, TX 75231 EMAIL: saygoodnight@halfpricebooks.com URL: http://www.halfpricebooks.com (Click on "Enter our Bedtime Story Contest")