Hey – I just thought of a great idea!

It all starts there. In the mind. Sometimes the mind of the creative, sometimes the mind of the inspired, sometimes it’s simply someone that sees a need and seeks to make it happen.

It was the Ford Motor Company that came out with the slogan a few years ago that said, “Ford has a better idea,” and then turned on a light-bulb emphasizing the lights going on and the invention that gave us a better look at life.

According to Nicholas Graham Platt, founder of hellonavigo, “In the late 19th century, before the development of practical techniques to reproduce photographs on the printed page, illustrations and cartoons were a mainstay of newspapers worldwide. Editors would commission illustrations to depict events described in the articles. Early reports of Edison’s success with the electric light bulb were often illustrated with drawings of a dark room illuminated by a single lamp.

As the bulb’s success became more and more apparent, iconic photographs of Edison next to his invention stood out in the public’s mind. The bulb came to stand for all of Edison’s inventive prowess.

But it was the early 20th-century cartoon, Felix the Cat that cemented the idea of a light bulb as a new idea. Created more than a decade before Mickey Mouse, Felix was the most popular cartoon character of the silent-film era. When Felix was thinking, symbols and letters would sometimes appear over his head, and he would often use them as props: question marks became ladders, and musical notes became vehicles. It was in these symbolic images that we first see the light bulb used to represent a new idea.

According to Shad Engkilterra who published the following in THE STARTUP, “According to Rod Serling, “ Ideas come from the Earth. They come from every human experience that you either witness or have heard about translated into your brain in your own sense of dialogue in your own language form. Ideas are born from what is smelled, heard, seen, experienced, felt, emotionalized. Ideas are probably in the air like little tiny items of ozone. That’s the easiest thing on Earth is to come up with an idea. Then the second thing is the hardest thing on Earth is to put it down. Most people have had a great idea that has later showed up on an infomercial or in a store for sale. It’s not because someone stole the idea that it ends up there attributed to someone else. Instead, it happens because inventions are often thought of in different areas of the world at the same time. This is called “multiple discovery” or “simultaneous invention. Cracked sites five examples of simultaneous invention, including the following: Sir Isaac Newton and Gottfried Leibniz invented calculus at about the same time. Alexander Graham Bell and Elisha Gray invented the telephone and ended up in the patent office on the same day. While Jonas Salk is credited for finding a vaccine to use against polio, Hilary Koprowski and Albert Sabin also created their own successful vaccines at nearly the same time with Sabin’s becoming preferred worldwide. There are many instances of inventions occurring around the same time, and some scientists suggest that it’s a human adaptation to ensure the species survives. Regardless of why it happens, the important thing to get from this is that if you have an idea, you have to do something with it or risk losing it to someone else. The idea is important, in and of itself, but what you do with it may be even more important, for you personally and for the world at large. Here are some steps to taking that idea and putting it to work for you.”

There have been a lot of light bulbs going on in Bladen County as many people agree that it is the busiest place most have ever lived. There is always something going on.

From memorial golf tournaments, barbecue pit wars, boating on White Lake, communitywide block parties and farmer’s markets to salsa contests, bicycling races, a Wild Wine 5K in May and with trotting turkeys in November, car shows, fashion shows, live bands, petting zoos, fireworks, line dancing, getting animals ready for the fair… there has been someone who said, “hey, I have an idea.”

Is it the creative nature of the people in Bladen County that keeps us busy every weekend? And mind you, these activities are above and beyond the sports schedules, the competitive schedules, the theater, rodeos and dance performances.

If you are bored – come up with something busy. If you are not having fun – come up with something exciting. If you are lonely – plan an event and invite all the neighbors. If you want something to do – create it.

It is a wondrous and busy place to live with some of the most creative events on the planet. Right here in Bladen County. The next time you have an idea, or someone says, “HEY…” listen carefully, because the beautifully creative events of tomorrow come from the inspirations of today and people who have learned to take life out of the box.