This project came to me in two different ideas, which I combined into one. Months ago, I obtained a pad of sticky notes shaped like light bulbs. I believe that Karen sent them to me in a care package, but it really has been so long that I don’t remember. I always had a plan to write “bright ideas” on them and stick them around the city.
One day, I finally started making a list on the blank page in my notebook entitled “Bright Ideas”. (They’re basically suggestions of things that I have found work for me and my happiness. The entire list can be found at the end of this post.) Later that week, I was in AC Moore and I found a bunch of light bulb shaped jars. I had seen them before, but I guess I had light bulbs on the brain, because I bought nine of them.
I ended up dumping bottle after bottle of glitter into these jars. (You may have been wondering where all those empty jars came from.) My original plan was to dump a bunch of colored glitter that would compliment each other, and then shake it all up. But, as I was pouring, I realized that it was basically sand art. Glitter art, if you will. And a bit of beads, too.
I decided I had to combine the projects. So what ended up happening was I walked around the Inner Harbor and posted the sticky notes on poles (reinforced with packaging tape; novelty sticky glue isn’t very adhesive) with an additional sticker alerting people what they were reading was a “bright idea”. When I found a flat surface, I left a light bulb jar with a tag, also reading “bright idea”.
“But there’s no more words”, you say. “What’s the bright idea?” And I say, “Glitter, of course! Glitter is a great idea!”
And here are some more great ideas.
I did six flag poles, all next to each other. You can kind of make out the little yellow blobs on the poles in the background.
Complete list:
+ Give strangers things
+ Reorganize drawers
+ Send letters to friends
+ Write down your dreams
+ Be the first one to dance
+ Say yes to new things
+ Tell people you love them
+ Use the internet for more than social networking
+ Have a supply of googly eyes
+ Ask for your options when you buy stamps
+ Frequent thrift stores
+ Remember your imagination
+ Buy yourself a balloon
+ Only eat delicious things
+ Embrace your experiences, both past and present
+ Celebrate small things in big ways
+ Get over your frustration with glitter, it’s beautiful
+ Compliment coworkers
+ Don’t feel like you need to stick out miserable situations
+ Support equality
+ Be nice to animals
+ Let yourself laugh when you’re alone
+ Encourage and praise the behavior you want to see more of
+ Choose the colorful versions of things
+ Look at empty surfaces as blank canvases
+ Love the weirdos
+ Frequently change your surroundings
+ Listen to music more than you watch TV
+ Know it will be okay
+ Document your life
+ Don’t judge others’ interests
+ Remember what made you happy as a child
+ Experiment
Have any other bright ideas? Share them here!
