Which Puppy to Take Home
-An exclusive excerpt from Allen’s new book-
Not every idea we have is worth pursuing.
This is an Achilles’ heel of highly creative people, especially those who have talents in various arts or areas. Because on one hand, we know there’s potential in that idea if we just pursued it.
The allure is strong when an unformed or barely discernible thought, smell, memory, phrase, or scene from a story not yet told passes by. It’s like a lingering scent, lost moment in time, or longing for a place we’ve never been. We get a taste that teases us for a future feast or a glimpse of what could be...and everything in us is drawn to it, wooed by it, knows we could do something with it. Poet Ruth Stone tells how, while working the fields, poems would come to her. “It was like a thunderous train of air and it would come barreling down at [me] over the landscape.” If she didn’t capture it, the words would “continue on across the landscape looking for another poet.”
What are we to do when that happens to us—just walk away?
Yes. Sometimes. Every idea isn’t meant for you. Let those continue across the landscape for someone else.
These decisions must be made, or we will set up permanent residence in the Curious stage. As ideas converge, we must commit with a relentless focus on what we will now bring to life without continually glancing back at what we left behind.
That is hard. It’s like pushing past the initial excitement of getting a new dog to the moment of choosing which puppy to take home. You can only leave with one or two (I’m looking at me here!)—leaving the remaining ones for others. They aren’t all meant for us but committed owners with time to fully know them, love them, and nurture them.
Refusing to spend time with every new possibility doesn’t make us less creative. It is a sign of creative maturity that keeps us from constantly flitting from the last thing to the next thing...without ever completing the main thing. It’s passing on some of the puppies, knowing they will be well taken care of by others as we run with ours.
(From The Creativity Glitch: How to Stop Being Stuck, Find Your Groove, & Create with God. Copyright © 2026 Allen Arnold.)
This reading was crafted to encourage your pursuit of story and creativity with God. Your donation makes this crowd-funded initiative possible. You can support it via PAYPAL (or by check to Allen Arnold at PO Box 62841, Colorado Springs, CO 80962).
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