Alright, so the other day, I was messing around with this old Chinese saying, “casting bricks to attract jade.” Sounds fancy, right? It basically means you throw out something kinda basic or even crappy to get people talking and hopefully spark some really awesome ideas. I figured, why not give this a shot in my own little project?
So, here’s the deal. I started by jotting down some really rough ideas, like the most basic stuff you can think of. I’m talking about throwing some seriously ugly “bricks” out there. I wrote them down, didn’t even bother to make them look pretty or sound smart. The goal was to get something, anything, down on paper. Then I go and share this mess with a few of my friends who are also into this kind of thing.
I was like, “Hey, check out these ‘bricks’ I tossed together. I know they’re rough, but what do you think? Got any ‘jade’ to share?” At first, they were a bit confused, probably thinking I’d lost it. But then, something cool started to happen.
- One friend, let’s call him Mark, saw my jumbled mess and goes, “You know, this gives me an idea…” And boom, he starts spitting out some gold.
- Then Sarah jumps in, building on Mark’s idea, adding her own twist to it. Suddenly, my “brick” was turning into something way shinier.
- Even quiet old Tom, who usually just listens, chimed in with a suggestion that none of us had thought of.
We spent the next couple of hours just going back and forth, taking my initial rough “bricks” and polishing them into something, dare I say, pretty darn impressive. It was like watching a rough stone get chiseled into a piece of art. And the best part? We were all doing it together.
Here is what I really got out of this whole “casting bricks” thing:
It’s okay to start rough.
Sometimes, the pressure to be perfect stops us from even starting. This taught me that it’s better to have a crappy first draft than no draft at all.
Collaboration is key.
Other people’s perspectives can totally transform your work. What started as my solo project became something much bigger and better thanks to my friends’ input.
Don’t be afraid to share your ‘ugly’ work.
It might feel vulnerable, but sharing even your most unpolished ideas can lead to some amazing results. You never know what kind of “jade” others might have to offer.
So, yeah, that’s my little experiment with “casting bricks to attract jade.” It was a bit of a wild ride, but I’m definitely going to be using this approach more often. Who knows what other treasures we can uncover by just throwing some bricks around? It was a good time, and really, it worked! From now on, I think I will do this more often, it is really helpful.
