Ideation practice

While new ideas can appear from anywhere, and at anytime - the proverbial Aha! moment, and generated with the help of an array of conceptual tools, one may ask if there are conditions particularly conducive to ideation? In trying to answer this question, ideators may consider two practices: one is to open themselves to inspiration through seeking out and embracing stillness; the other is to focus on the present moment. The first practice follows from the observation that the mind is most receptive when not disturbed, the second that often the best ideas present themselves right now, in the present. But although these two conditions may seem desirable for ideation they are neither necessary nor sufficient for the free flow of ideas which may occur in many "other places" and, moreover, may not appear "all at once".