I’m curious about creativity. For this year, I’m following Julia Cameron’s exercises in her The Daily Artist’s Way, a series of brief suggestions about how to nurture creative thought, along with exercises to be carried out in a daily journal. The other day, she reminded me that one of the greatest spurs to creativity is curiosity. Curiosity leads to the exploration of new ideas and new avenues of action. It opens the mind to things never before imagined. And that opens the door to enhanced creativity.
I’m reminded about the life of Leonardo da Vinci, which illustrates the close link between curiosity and creativity. Curiosity was a hallmark of his behavior and the wellspring of his creative spirit. He was endlessly curious, delving into many aspects of science, art, and life. He explored everything into which he came in contact. He asked “why” and “how” and then phrased the exploratory question “why not”? His bottomless curiosity, and the creativity it fed, explains why his ideas, designs, and inventions were the antecedents–sometimes by several centuries–of later “inventions” that were to become important.
Curiosity is in no way a limited talent. It is not a trait that naturally occurs in only certain persons and is lacking in others. Every person has the full potential to be curious. All it requires is a mind ready to consider alternatives, to give a regard to ways that are unfamiliar, to fathom the unexplored. It employs readiness to examine beliefs and patterns and a willingness to question habits and traditions.
Following the path of curiosity may not, however, be easy. It may cause us to confront established ways of doing things. It may lead us down rabbit holes that, in the end, seem to be a waste of time. It may require us to undertake the uncomfortable examination of our own assumptions, paradigms, and behaviors. Facing up to challenges such as these may prove daunting.
The payoff, though, is bright opportunities. Curiosity may lead to discovering new ways to do things, be they daily tasks or grand designs. It may lead us in new and promising directions. It may refresh our thoughts and our actions. It may change our lives, in small ways or on a bolder scale. It may make us better people.
The pathway to curiosity is clear. It begins by asking, for each thing we encounter, the simple question “why”? That will naturally progress to a second question, “how”? Then, once we’ve achieved the lift under the wings of our thought, we take to the air with the more expansive query, “what if”? Who knows, then, where we might fly? We might alight anywhere. But one thing is certain: the adventures we undertake will be exciting!