“Who knew what objects would be required for any act of sorcery? It was, by its very definition, an irrational art. Many sorcerers were magpies, since one could not tell what physical item – if any – would be required for a Work.”

Replace sorcery -> creativity.

Sorcerers -> designers.

Or on bright, first-day-of-spring kinds of days, sorcerers -> artists.

Objects -> ideas.

Our profession is ever an act of improvisation – sometimes rushed, sometimes languorous rehearsals (with our creative teams) and performance theater (with our clients, and, eventually our customers/users).

So if gathering ideas and saving them for use in ideally unexpected future uses, defines me as magpie, then wings spread without conscious thought, flicking in anticipation for the joy of collecting.