One of the popular questions that my friends always ask me (besides “so you’re really sure you’re going to stop working & do this“), is : “Nadd, I want to plan something for my  (insert special person’s name here) but I don’t know what to do! Do you have any ideas?”

And what would result from that simple question is a brainstorming session that would involve lots of exclamation marks, many rebuttals & agreements and will eventually lead to huge smiles on our faces. Yes, the process of brainstorming is similar to a bus trip to your favourite ice-cream store: the ride might be bumpy, but you’ll be satisfied afterwards.

Of course, idea generating to me is a fun process.  My friend whose planning this for his anniversary celebrations however, found it quite stressful. Which is why I usually start off the brainstorming process with 4 questions:

• What are the fads, current interests or craze of your other half?
  (eg. vintage stuffs, cooking, lady gaga)
• What are some of the things that you want to try but never got a chance to do?
• What did you do last year & how is this year’s celebrations special?
• What are the favourite things that you love to do together?

That got his brain juices going and sure enough, we finally managed to land on a theme for his anniversary celebrations . Even then the big idea was realised at an uncanny time (think: 3 am).  Ideas are funny that way.

So now every time someone else asks me that question, I’ll just pose them the 4 questions above & watch as we bounce words off each other.

If you’re ever stuck in an idea-block, here’s a tip:
The easiest way to get new ideas is to Talk!

(& of course, another easy way to get ideas- Mudd&Nadd!)

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