Want to be more creative? It starts with curiosity.
by Ruby Russell
Curiosity has long been linked to the arts, with some of the world’s most famous creatives being renowned for their curious-thinking. David Bowie had a self-professed ‘malevolent curiosity’ that often led him to ‘look at things a little askew’, while Walt Disney advocated that ‘curiosity keeps leading us down new paths’. However, there is little reason why creativity in itself should relate solely to the arts and artistic pursuits. Creativity can be defined as simply having original ideas, an attribute which is relevant and useful in almost every career or passion. Albert Einstein himself said that ‘creativity is seeing what others see and thinking what no-one else has ever thought’, and I’m not sure there is a vocation out there that this phrase doesn’t relate to. Without creativity, it is obvious that we wouldn’t have books, or films, or works of art. But it is also true that we wouldn’t have vaccines, or Google Maps, or the device you’re reading this blog post on. Someone had to think those up, and they wouldn’t have done it without first feeling curious about the outcome; about what could be.
The defining characteristics of creativity vary hugely from person to person, and situation to situation. A person’s creative nature could depend on their upbringing, their culture, their education, their opportunities, and an infinite number of things. Almost every factor that defines who a person is will affect how their creativity manifests. However, creativity isn’t made in a vacuum. In essence, to be creative is to extrapolate and build on ideas that are already known to us, creating novel concepts. Creativity is something we are led to, and this process starts out with - you guessed it - our good old friend, curiosity.
The term specific curiosity describes seeking out information beyond what is necessary; essentially, wanting to know more than the bare minimum that’s required for the current task. Epistemic curiosity is the feeling of noticing a discrepancy between what we already know and what we want to know, and the desire to make the links that will get us there. It promotes exploratory behaviour (which, in our opinion, is the best kind). Epistemic curiosity (which you can read more about here) and specific curiosity combined, are - in layman’s terms - when our curiosity is piqued and an eagerness to know more is awakened. This curiosity leads us to find out new information about concepts or ideas that may or may not already be familiar to us, and the information we find is what kickstarts the creative process. Curiosity leads to creativity, which leads to new ideas. In other words, curiosity has been the starting point for almost everything humans have ever done.
So, I want to be more creative. How can I harness my curiosity to get there?
Want to write a screenplay? Want to problem solve? Want to make something no-one’s ever made before? It starts with being curious. Here are some amazing ways to awaken your curiosity, and begin the journey towards creative discoveries.
FIND SOMETHING YOU LIKE, AND MAKE IT BETTER
Idea linking uses ideas already in existence as building blocks to create something new. The reason idea linking is so valuable to leading us towards creativity, is because, as stated before, creativity doesn’t happen in a vacuum. Every creative person uses knowledge they already have, and builds on that to come up with novel ideas.
It sounds obvious, but next time you find something you like, have a think about how it could be made even better.
Got a favourite cookie recipe? Add something in - an ingredient you think will elevate it even more. It's YOUR recipe now.
A fan of going to the gym? Got a preferred exercise routine? Find a training method that's totally different to the one you usually do, and combine the best bits of both.
Got a go-to, ugly-comfy garment of clothing? Make it fit your style, too. We all have that one jumper that we love for it's coziness and not it's beauty. How can you alter the garment to add a bit of zing, so that it gives you comfort AND fashion? An iron-on patch, or a painted design? Frills on the sleeves, or a tie-dye job?
LEARN TO DESCRIBE THINGS STRANGELY
More specifically, fight back against how you describe things that your brain automatically defines for you. The areas in the right side of our brains that are in charge of defining the things we see are habitually conditioned to do it loosely and broadly, providing just enough context for us to navigate the situation. We see a cat, and we think, 'Small. White. Soft.'
But if you start adding to those instinctive ideas that your brain comes up with, you could start doing it in other areas of your life, too.
Instead of thinking, 'small, white and soft', take a second to add on any obscure details you can.
A witch's companion.
Has a NAME, though can't introduce itself.
Curiosity killed the cat, but satisfaction brought it back.
This widening of your general understanding of what's around you is a cornerstone to a curious and creative mindset. Reframing your instincts to want more, and to make connections between concepts that might seem miles apart.
A fun game to play with others is to think of a movie, and then describe it to the other players in an obscure, but technically accurate way. See if your friends can guess what movie can be described as, "Orphan, farm boy kisses sister whilst estranged Dad tries to get him to join the family business"...
START COLLECTING YOUR CURIOUS NOTIONS
This is something that I have been doing for years and years, and I believe it's one of the things that keeps my creativity ticking along nicely.
I have multiple lists on the go at any given time, for almost every situation. And I know what you're thinking; lists are not where the mind goes to when you think of how to be creative. But mine definitely are!
I keep all my lists on the notes app on my phone, so I can always quickly access it to add to them. I have a list for:
Movies I want to see
Places around the world I'd like to go to
Things I come across that I don't need to buy, but might like to treat myself to at some point
Ideas for tattoos (most of which I'll never get, but still enjoy mulling over)
Books I've read this year
Books I'd like to read at some point (this one is never-ending)
Dreams I've had (written within the first 10 seconds of waking up, otherwise I'll forget them forever)
Little things I should get round to doing, but with no urgency
Big things I should remember to do imminently
Roller skating tricks I'd like to learn, and the ones I've already mastered
Episodes of various shows that moved me to tears (in case I ever meet the scriptwriter responsible, so I can say, "You! This Is Us, season 1, episode 15. I wept.")
And many, many more. In a moment of creative block, I look at my lists and I let them inspire me. I read through all the things that I deemed curious enough to want to revisit at some point, and I think, 'which one am I drawn to revisit today?' It works every time.
So, I suppose the point I'm trying to make with all this is that if you've come here to read up on how to be a creative person, you likely already are. Creativity isn't always being the next Kandinsky - sometimes it's flipping your tupperware upside down to store the last bit of cake, so that the lid becomes the board you slice it on, and the tub becomes the cake box. And whoever came up with that idea (sorry, it wasn't me), got there by being curious enough to imagine a world in which their cake doesn't have to be squished and wrestled out of the same tub they keep their soup in.
We are all curious people. But, we sometimes need to reframe our minds into letting our curiosity grow and bloom into that oft sought-after prize: creativity.