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Curiosity is what fuels the creative mind.
When we were children, it was our curiosity what made us explore the world. Thanks to that curiosity we learned and grew at an exponential pace.
Unfortunately, as we became more familiar with our environment, the more we knew about our world, the less curious we became, the less creativity had a seed to nurture. As time goes by we need to cultivate our curiosity.
How do we plan for curiosity as part of our routine?
The simplest way is by adding to our days and weeks moments of opportunity…
- To encounter something new (getting out of our comfort zone)
- To rediscover something familiar (seeing things from a new perspective)
- To be inspired by people, places, nature, situations (engaging with the world)
Here’s a checklist of experiences to reawaken our curiosity and as a result our creativity :
1.Solitude. There’s much we can find interesting in our own self. Solitude provides an escape for the creative, time and space to focus inward. As much as we can generate creative energy by being social, we need solitude for self-discovery, self-knowledge.
Moments of solitude force us to be at ease with our own company. By having no other external distractions, we look for our own answers, explanations, solutions. Share on X2.Walks. We can walk alone or with someone else. We can walk a familiar trail or an unexplored path. We can walk in the city, the forest, the beach. The point of walking is engaging in the physical act of exploration to encourage our minds to do the same. The point of the exercise is to go out to our known world with new eyes.
3.Childhood. For a child, the tiniest thing can be a source of intense curiosity. The most ordinary experience can yield great discoveries. Why not rekindle some of that childhood magic? We can get back in touch with our inner child by changing our perspective, literally lowering to the eye level of a child. We can look at our childhood photos, study them, to find new things previously forgotten or details unseen. We have to ask questions. Being inquisitive is a childhood cornerstone, one that creatives must never let go of.
Asking questions keeps us in an interested state of mind. Share on X4.Music. The experience of listening to music is transformative. Music is a channel, a wavelength we get onto, and one that takes us to unexpected places. We can find ways to appreciate the genres we love or explore new ones. Through music, we can learn about cultures and places far from our own. And by awakening our sense of hearing our creativity is free to come out through another.
5.Silence. As much as music can inspire and awake our curiosity, silence has the power to bring it all back to its core. Silence can be reached through meditation, or simply through contemplation. As we gaze outward or inward in silence, questions might come up, answers that we were looking for, new ideas previously unseen or unheard among the clutter of images and noises inside our minds.
How do you stir your own curiosity? How is curiosity part of to your routine?
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