Liz Strauss at Successful Blog

Thinking, writing, business ideas … You’re only a stranger once.

November 3, 2007

Seriously: Do New Thoughts and New Taglines Find Us?

ME Liz Strauss wrote this at 8:27 am

It Started with an Unsearchable Thought

insideout logo

It started with a blog post. Somehow in writing it, I had a new thought.

Seems a good reason NOT to be a thought leader . . . new thoughts aren’t searchable.

That thought caught a conversation about how our thoughts might connect us.

In the comment box, Alina Popescu said

Hi Liz! New thoughts are not searchable because they don’t need to [be]. They have their own little strategy to finding their way to people. I did not use a search to get to your blog. However, I got here and ceased to be a stranger :) So who cares if you can’t search them? Most of us find new thoughts or are provoked to think exactly when they most need it.

Via trackback, Billy Smith said

It is about discovering, not being discovered « The Organic Leadership Blog

Last night on the telephone, I asked Lorelle VanFossen what she thought. We discussed what we thought about thoughts finding us in the universe. She talked about the “Great Cosmic Muffin,” and she said

You have to write about this in the way only Liz can. It’s important. Don’t leave that thought behind. Send out a new one. Show them how.

It’s hard to say, “no,” to Lorelle.

Do Thoughts Find Us? I Mean Really

cartwheel nebula

I know that, in the past year, I was thinking some thoughts that weren’t the best. What they brought weren’t the best folks or events.

With every knock, I lost a bit of who I am.

I started listening to EVERYONE, but myself.

Each new problem child outdistanced the last.

I can list unhappy endings one by one.
Yeah, it’s a list, and the list gets progressively — exponentially — more detrimental.

If I constantly flinch, isn’t inevitable that I’ll get hit? Why is that?

Are my thoughts on my sleeve? Do they somehow transmit? I have trouble believing that 1, 2, 3, 4 — small, medium, large, extra large — could be all a coincidence. It just doesn’t seem that coincidence is that organized.

Even more.

When I decided that I’d had enough, when I said, “I’m taking this ‘kick me’ sign off. No more. It’s the end of this rotten stuff,” within hours new things, good things, things I love, started happening. Is that coincidence too?

I think not.

Go ahead, believe whatever your heart will let you.

If right now, I send out this thought on a Saturday, when most folks are out and not reading blogs, will it find you before it normally would?

When I answered Alina’s comment up above, I wrote this descriptive phrase in the comment box.

New thoughts on a mission to find new thinkers.

Alina wrote this comment in response.

Liz, that sounds like a pretty good slogan.

Does it mean that a new tagline came to find me and my blog?

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40 Comments to “Seriously: Do New Thoughts and New Taglines Find Us?”

  1. November 3rd, 2007 at 8:43 am
    ann michael said

    “I know that, in the past year, I was thinking some thoughts that weren’t the best. What they brought weren’t the best folks or events.”

    It is so true Liz - we get what we project and we get it in increasing intensity. That’s why people often feel things spiral (positively or negatively).

    There’s nothing mystical about it - reaping what you sow applies to how you act, what you think, and therefore what you project.

    Great new tagline/slogan or whatever you’d like to use it as…hmmm..great new thought!

    Ann

    PS - and I didn’t search to get here either!!!! When I first found you it was through related blogs - relationships! Once again - you reaped what you sowed!

  2. November 3rd, 2007 at 9:04 am
    ME Strauss said

    Hi Ann,
    Yeah, we reap what we sow. We receive what we transmit. Garbage out garbage in. They all mean the same thing.

    We have to be what we want from the very smallest thought.

    I’m pretty lucky that people like you found your way here however you did. :)

  3. November 3rd, 2007 at 9:24 am
    Karin H. said

    It were thoughts on the Z-list that ‘connected’ us Liz - almost one year ago ;-)

    New thoughts find us when we connect and are open to listening to other, complementing thoughts. The 1 + 1 = 5 idea.

    Karin H. (Keep It Simple Sweetheart, specially in business)

  4. November 3rd, 2007 at 9:26 am
    Robyn said

    This is so refreshing, Liz. I find new thoughts to be a real challenge… especially the chasing of them as only each of us can do in our own very unique or unorthodox way. If we should burn our fingers the first time we’ll lick our fingers for a few moments and then adjust what we did so that it works even better.

    Be refreshed and go for a new tagline if that helps you catch new currents, Liz!

  5. November 3rd, 2007 at 9:35 am
    ME Strauss said

    Hi Karin!
    Yes, I’m with you! 1+1+1=1 Million
    Our thoughts are communicating in the most interesting ways. Maybe they are even evolving.

    Blogger synchronicity. Hmmmmm

  6. November 3rd, 2007 at 9:36 am
    ME Strauss said

    Hi Robyn!
    New thoughts are refreshing and invigorating, aren’t they?!! I wonder where this will take us . . .

  7. November 3rd, 2007 at 10:09 am
    Mike said

    Top of the morning to you, Liz!

    Yes, it did!

    A new tagline for a new attitude seems like a good idea…as long as you keep “you’re only a stranger once”, of course ;-)

    Mike

  8. November 3rd, 2007 at 10:10 am
    Rick Cockrum said

    “New thoughts on a mission to find new thinkers” sounds like a pretty good tag line to me, too.

    I don’t think I’ve ever found a new thought when I went looking for it. They always seem to meander in when we’re looking the other way. Maybe coincidences are effects looking for causes.

  9. November 3rd, 2007 at 10:12 am
    Mike said

    Rick,

    I agree with you there. I recall Deepak Chopra writing in one of his books “What if the brain is the receiver of mind, not the transmitter?” That question has stuck with me since.

    Mike

  10. November 3rd, 2007 at 10:28 am
    ME Strauss said

    Hi Mike!
    How cool is that?!!

    Taking your comments together . . . what if there are no new thoughts only thoughts we haven’t yet started thinking?

  11. November 3rd, 2007 at 10:31 am
    ME Strauss said

    Hey Rick!
    I’ve had the same experience. When I’ve been searching for an original thought all of my past originals come calling. . . . When I listen and stop searching is when I’m open to letting original, new thoughts form themselves. :)

  12. November 3rd, 2007 at 10:38 am
    Joanna Young said

    Hi Liz

    I like it too - and I loved the way Rick describes new thoughts…

    “They always seem to meander in when we’re looking the other way”

    Only thing is - for me this place isn’t just about thoughts and thinking, it’s about heart.

    Because I think it was your heart that found me, or me you, not just our thoughts.

    Joanna

  13. November 3rd, 2007 at 10:51 am
    ME Strauss said

    Wow!
    Joanna . . . a little closer?

    New thoughts to connect hearts of new thinkers.

  14. November 3rd, 2007 at 11:04 am
    Joanna Young said

    Liz, I do try to speak from the heart but I’m not so hot at copywriting!

    How about “new thoughts with the heart to find new thinkers”

    I’ll pop back later to see what other ideas folk come up with…

    I’m sure there’s lots of possibility in the ideas you’re playing with here though.

    I hope they give you some of the… stuff you’re looking for - you know the stuff I mean… for the start of year 3 :-)

    Joanna

  15. November 3rd, 2007 at 11:05 am
    Karin H. said

    New thoughts to connect hearts of new thinkers.

    Oh, I like that one! Combines all ;-)

    Karin H.

  16. November 3rd, 2007 at 11:06 am
    ME Strauss said

    Oh Joanna!
    Not to worry . . . I never set out to go here. But it will be a lovely adventure. :)

  17. November 3rd, 2007 at 11:07 am
    Mother Earth said

    just a thought … (giggle) when something is thought of as a mission or a declaration it has purpose attached.

    I am missing the ” on a mission part”

    isn’t it to speak to …what’s next?

    is it about thinking new things?
    meeting new thinkers?
    thinking heart to heart?

    is it about melding like minded ?

    heart to heart
    thought to thought
    purposeful thought to thought
    thinking thoughtfully connecting thoughty
    heartful thoughts connecting thoughts

    these are not quite right but this is where my mind and heart went

    Mother Earth aka Karen Hanrahan
    http://www.bestwellnessconsultant.com

  18. November 3rd, 2007 at 11:08 am
    ME Strauss said

    Yeah, Karin!
    I think it’s . . . almost . . . there.

    New thoughts searching for the hearts of new thinkers.

  19. November 3rd, 2007 at 11:12 am
    ME Strauss said

    Hi Karen!
    Thank you!
    Great to see you in this conversation.

    I’m being so careful to follow the advice of an old Jewish folk saying . . . “Words should be weighed . . .”

    I don’t want to consider them without each other. As I don’t want to consider us without one another. :)

  20. November 3rd, 2007 at 11:23 am
    Mother Earth said

    oh my gosh that is so wild that you say that, sitting next to me on a bookmark sharing the most amazing little story telling festival coming to whitehall,mi is that very same jewish folk saying - literally in my face as I type - what you just said

    love that

    happy to be here

    with one another definitely is wanting for consideration

    Mother Earth aka Karen Hanrahan
    http://www.bestwellnessconsultant.com

  21. November 3rd, 2007 at 11:25 am
    ME Strauss said

    New thoughts aspiring to connect with new minds and hearts.

    aspire = breathe toward.

  22. November 3rd, 2007 at 11:28 am
    ME Strauss said

    Karen, that is so cool.
    Blogger synchronicity.

  23. November 3rd, 2007 at 12:05 pm
    Mother Earth said

    ahhhh aspiring — I really like that

    what’s the difference between an old thought and memory - like a good thing, vs new thoughts

    vs productive, mindful, thoughty thoughts

    thoughty = playful, perhaps sticky ??

    come play with me??

    and yes indeed synchronicity

    are you a julie cameron fan ??

  24. November 3rd, 2007 at 1:07 pm
    Mike said

    I think ” New thoughts aspiring to connect with new minds and hearts” is great! I’m glad you worked minds in. ;-)

  25. November 3rd, 2007 at 2:17 pm
    ME Strauss said

    Hi Karen,
    Sorry I was gone, I have a friend from childhood in town. . . . Take a look at the post that inspired this conversation and you’ll know what is meant by a “new” thought. ;)

  26. November 3rd, 2007 at 2:18 pm
    ME Strauss said

    Hi Mike!
    I’m still going to live with it for a while. We’ll all see together what works for us.

  27. November 3rd, 2007 at 4:14 pm
    sbpoet said

    “If I constantly flinch, isn’t inevitable that I’ll get hit? Why is that?”

    I discovered quite young — babysitting! — that the most sure-fire way for a little one to get hurt was for me to say: “Be Careful!”

    Flinching can be transmitted from one mind to another, with painful results.

    “What if the brain is the receiver of mind, not the transmitter?”

    Oh, I love this. Sometimes it does seem to me that thoughts & ideas are floating around us, and this is why many people thing of the same thing at around the same time.

    Like we are swimming in a sea of ideas; we need only reach out to catch one.

  28. November 3rd, 2007 at 4:18 pm
    sbpoet said

    Um, that should be: …THINK of the same thing…

  29. November 3rd, 2007 at 6:41 pm
    ME Strauss said

    Hi Sbpoet!
    We sure seem to be living in a sea of idea or connected by some static electricity that passes them between us as we breathe and move about.

  30. November 3rd, 2007 at 10:19 pm
    Aruni said

    I believe thoughts come to us all the time but we only ’see’ them when we are ready. What is that saying…something like ‘answers/solutions already exist, they are just waiting for us to find them.’ For instance the prevention for polio existed but until Jonas Salk discovered it, we did not know it existed.

    Most of us tend to dismiss these thoughts as irrelevant or impossible. But if we only took time to follow the thought, we might discover a treasure at the end of that thought bow. The seed of the thought is what is important. The eventual manifestation of the thought may or may not resemble the original thought.

    As for our thoughts attracting good and bad things, I think it is very true…sort of a self-fulfilling prophecy but oh how hard it is to break out of those thought grooves. It often takes many, many years (I know from experience) to re-route those thought rivers. To dam some of them up and make them flow in different directions is very hard.

    If only they made a patch for negative thoughts…my guess is that it would be the #1 seller of all times. :-)

  31. November 4th, 2007 at 1:21 am
    DaveOlson said

    New thoughts rarely come from stale thinking.

    What you focus on flourishes.

    I think therefore I am.

    As a man thinks in his heart so he is.

    Liz as always the conversation here is incredibly thought provoking. Some new thoughts found me here… :-)

  32. November 4th, 2007 at 5:23 am
    ME Strauss said

    Hi Aruni!
    I, too, believe that we ignore and push aside some of our very best own thoughts to take on the thoughts around us. Why? Who knows? Maybe sometimes it’s easier. Maybe sometimes it’s habit. Maybe sometimes we’re so focused or burdened we’re forgotten to listen to ourselves.

    Yes, and sometimes we dismiss a thought as not worth having . . . when really it’s ourselves we’re dismissing as not good enough for such grand thoughts.

    True, thoughts make our lives a self-fulfilling prophecy. That’s been spoken of since the times of the Old Testament of the Bible. I suspect it’s a part of every Holy Book. After all, if someone or some entity wants to control people, they are smart to make so that we cannot share our thoughts.

  33. November 4th, 2007 at 5:27 am
    ME Strauss said

    Hi Dave,
    I agree, what we think about is what we give life to. Where we look is what we see. If we think the world is an awful, mean, and despicable place, that’s what we’ll be sensitive to and we’ll respond to it as such. We’ll find meanness in every that is delivered to us. Even a child’s “hello” will be evil.

    As we think our hearts follow and the world becomes what we believe.

    Of all of the world, Dave, it doesn’t surprise me that you might hear me thinking . . .

  34. November 4th, 2007 at 8:28 am
    Aruni said

    Hi Liz - “take on the thoughts around us” is a very nice way of putting it. I had not thought of it that way before but we (or should I say ‘I’) often let the thoughts of others influence me greatly or to be more clear what I ‘think’ the thoughts of others are.

    For instance, due to those ‘thought grooves’ I mentioned above I will formulate ideas of what I think others thoughts are about me or the situation we are in and then there goes my thought train running down the wrong track…. :-)

  35. November 4th, 2007 at 9:15 am
    ME Strauss said

    Hi Aruni!
    I can’t say as I always know what my influences are. I was having a conversation Thursday about terms that people have ask, “Did you coin that term?” Both the person I spoke and I had the same experience, we knew that we had heard a word or a phrase somewhere, but we didn’t know where we had picked it up . . . and folks kept giving us credit for inventing it.

    Or there was the occasion in high school when I discovered the Pythagorean theory on my own . . . even though Pythagorus had discovered it in something like 600 B.C.

    And we all know about folks with one-track minds. :)

  36. November 5th, 2007 at 1:50 am
    Alina Popescu said

    Hi Liz, I only got your email this morning, as I had no internet for the whole weekend :). But it’s true what you say, your own attitude does influence everything.

    It’s been a year and a few days since last autumn when a lot of things went down the drain and kept me down for a long time. And it seemed like I had to pay a lot for every good thing that happened in the mean time. At one point, when I could feel a mild depression kicking in, I just took a step back, made a plan in my had for what I should be doing next and told myself I should take the good side of everything. It did work, new good things started happening, and who knows, if all keeps going this way and the plan for 2008 does not change, it will be the best year ever.

    About the slogan part, I think many more would fit in here. But this one is the slogan I feel closest to because that is what’s happening when I come here: I open my mind and think for a while. And then find new thoughts within me. I really love how it has evolved in the comments for this post though.

  37. November 5th, 2007 at 5:33 am
    ME Strauss said

    Hi Alina!
    I realized something in much the same way that you did. . . . My realization went like this: If I walk around with a sign on that says, “Kick Me!” some folks are likely to do just that and others will not take what I say as being worth much.

    Regarding the tagline, a couple of things have taken off the shine . . . one is that when I look up I realize that I don’t have room for such a long one — I can’t give up the part that come from my dad (You’re only a stranger once.)

    The bigger thing, though, is that I Googled “new thought” last night and it’s apparently the name of a religion. Gosh, I don’t want to get folks confused that we’re talking about that when we’re not.

  38. November 5th, 2007 at 7:36 am
    entrepreMusings » The Google Trap said

    [...] finding that little toolbar.  I’m sure I’ll get around to it some day and may be the relevant thoughts on the subject that I found below will engender a new thought about the plight in the future.  I do use Google Analytics so maybe [...]

  39. November 5th, 2007 at 8:47 am
    Alina Popescu said

    Yes, it could be a confusion for new readers that is. Old friends could never get you confused with something else :D

  40. November 5th, 2007 at 8:50 am
    ME Strauss said

    Hi Alina!
    I know. Old friends don’t need taglines at all. :)

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