If you’ve ever seen a David Lynch film (Blue Velvet, Mulholland Dr., Lost Highway) or show (Twin Peaks), I’m sure you’ve wondered where his totally surreal ideas come from, right? Lynch is currently promoting his new book, “Catching the Big Fish,” which is about the influence of transcendental meditation on his life and creativity. I was able to see him speak on Thursday evening (along with 900 other people) at an event at Barnes & Noble called “Upstairs at the Square.”

Lynch explained that to him, ideas were like fish — the small fish swim close to the surface of the water (i.e.; normal consciousness), but if you want to catch the big fish, you need to dive much deeper (i.e.; using meditation). Also, the chapter entitled, “Ideas”, has this to say:

An idea is a thought. It’s a thought that holds more than you think it does when you receive it. But in that first moment there is a spark. In a comic strip, if someone gets an idea, a lightbulb goes on. It happens in an instant, just as in life.

It would be great if the entire film came all at once. But it comes, for me, in fragments. That first fragment is like the Rosetta Stone. It’s the piece of the puzzle that indicates the rest. It’s a hopeful puzzle piece.

In Blue Velvet, it was red lips, green lawns, and the song — Bobby Vinton’s version of “Blue Velvet.” The next thing was an ear lying in a field. And that was it.

You fall in love with the first idea, that little tiny piece. And once you’ve got it, the rest will come in time.

I find his ideas and imagery pretty intriguing. If you do too, you can always listen to an interview he gave on NPR’s Studio 360 to find out more. Or you can read about other people’s take on ideas here.