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200 words, broken, community, creativity, Diana Schwenk, Diana's Enormous Book of Quotes, garbage, ideas, imagination, inventions, junk, Life's like that, Purpose
To invent, you need a good imagination and a pile of junk.
Thomas Edison, quite possibly, was the most prolific American inventor of all time, having invented many things including the phonograph, motion picture camera and the long-lasting electric light bulb. I’m guessing he may have been a bit of a collector too, perhaps even an hoarder.
I stand in awe of his powerful imagination, yet I am also curious about his pile of junk. Junk, by definition is discarded material, items that have worn out, don’t work anymore or are broken.
We need to be imaginative and creative in life, not only to invent, but to solve problems, manage projects and live and work together as families, teams and community. And if imagination is necessary, might we not also have a need for junk, i.e., those broken ideas or materials that did not necessarily work for their original purpose, but with some imaginative creativity could be the answer to some other question?
~ DIANA’S ENORMOUS BOOK OF QUOTES ~
Did you know that before Listerine was used to combat bad breath, it was created as a surgical antiseptic, a cure for gonorrhea, sweaty feet and a treatment for dandruff?
talktodiana 
Late to this post again Diana but my Dad would often say one mans junk is another mans treasure when he came home from auction nights with a box of junk. He would fix it all up take back and auction it for more junk! Bless. I know if he was alive today he would have had so much fun bidding for stuff on Ebay.
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Love those cherished memories Kath! ♡
Diana xo
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The story of Listerine is fascinating. When WWI ended the manufacturers of it lost their market (it was being used as an antiseptic for battlefield injuries). So some genius invented the concept of “halitosis” (bad breath) and they launched a massive ad campaign. One featured a weeping woman and the now-famous slogan “Always the bridesmaid, never the bride.” Suddenly everyone feared the previously unknown “halitosis” and Listerine was the answer.
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Fascinating Bill! Thank you so much for sharing that tid bit here-I love learning where common expressions come from. ❤
Diana xo
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Having spent the past twelve months sorting out my mother’s things (who was an organized hoarder, meaning: what she kept she did not see as “junk”), this post holds great relevance to me. Especially when, in amidst the containers of buttons, and scraps of material, we found my grand-father’s war medals, as well as her engagement ring! They would have been so easy to have been lost to the world had we not decided to go through all her “junk” container by container, item by item. (And that is why we took twelve months!) 🙂
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Wow! good thing you took the time to go through all the stuff Elizabeth! ❤
Diana xo
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Great post. It got me thinking. Those are my favorite kind of posts.
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Glad you enjoy it Keith. ❤
Diana xo
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Recently at work in our dept. it was voted not to have an exchange junk gift. Instead of just social networking for Christmas luncheon…
my gift of well-intentioned new “junk” probably was unappreciated in years past under a former manager, amongst ourselves devolved in guilt to give a nice gift.
Was that photo from somewhere?
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Gift exchanges at work are interesting, to say the least Jean! ❤
Diana xo
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Love it Diana! Who knew…. A bit scary though 😉
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Yeah Val, I won’t tell you the other things I read and how they were used – crazy stuff!
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True– but still like to throw stuff out! My parents are big savers– and my father very good at using things on hand to fix other things. So you never know when something considered “junk” could be useful. But there’s a limit!!
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Oh I don’t keep a darn thing Lisa. My dad used to hammer old nails straight! ❤
Diana xo
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What an interesting thought Diana — that we as individuals need our own ‘junk’ to create from.
and no — I did not know that about Listerine! ❤
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I did a bit of a search Louise and you should see what they used Lysol for – Egads! ❤
Diana xo
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Listerine might still work for sweaty feet…… it does smell nice! 🙂
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Another thing it was said to do was to treat the common cold. I’ve used it when I have a sore throat, gargling extra long before going to bed, then waking up with a much improved throat Ute! ❤
Diana xo
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I am in awe and admiration of the curious mind that looks at ‘things’ and creates better things with it. 🙂
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Yes. Me too Colleen. ❤
Diana xo
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I agree Diana. Creativity always invents new thoughts , inspiration and actions! 💕💕
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So true, and when you need something, you suddenly look around at the stuff you already have and wonder what else it can do Karen! ❤
Diana xo
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Yeah so many products were created for a different purpose can’t imagine Listerine being used for anything but bad breath and mouth health, but can’t image Coke being used for anything other then a nice drink but once a pond a time it was
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Speaking of coke, apparently if you pour a can into the toilet and let it sit for a bit, it gets rid of all that calcium build up Jo-Anne! ❤
Diana xo
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