The Art of Sustainable Creativity, Part III: Lean Into Curiosity
Reading expansively, communing with nature, and connecting with others
Our artistic vision is an amalgamation of everything we see, hear, touch, feel, and think. We have within ourselves a wealth of creative resources, inspiration, and the potential for profound self-expression.
In the previous essay, I wrote about working with sound as a means of inviting creative visual inspiration. If you haven’t read that piece yet, find it here.
Today, I want to talk about the importance of curiosity, open-mindedness, and embracing discomfort, in the scope of broadening your perspective as an artist (and a person).
One of the culprits of creative blocks and drainages is stagnation of the mind. We are meant to be in a continuous state of learning.
The suggestions below all encourage curiosity and openness, and offer paths to fulfillment and stimulation, essential for sustained creative flow.
I: Read Expansively
I love to read, and I read a wide variety of genres and styles. Literary fiction is my preferred genre, but I also read psychology, memoir, politics, true crime, history, science, spiritual/mystical, and journalistic books. I read across a vast spectrum of opinion, experience, research, and time. I do my best to read work by authors whose ideas I disagree with to have a clearer understanding of any given subject. It’s important to be able to step outside of yourself and your worldview, and try to step into that of another, and embrace the discomfort of being challenged, Books have a magical ability to help us step into lives that aren’t our own.
Reading widely doesn’t just keep the mind sharp and open, but it inspires imagination, broadens perspective, generates empathy, and creates pathways for new ways of being and seeing.
II: Spend Time in Nature
This may not seem like a category that belongs in this essay, but communing with nature isn’t just good for our health. Studies have shown that spending time in nature can be meditative and help quiet the mind, reducing stress, cortisol, and curbing negative thinking. Taking a walk through a wooded path can help clear some of the mental blocks that are keeping your ideas at bay.
But being in nature can also teach us how to see, hear, and focus differently. Regardless of the season, the fields, plants, waters and creatures who inhabit them can offer much wisdom and fuel creative energy. Like how I described working with sound, you can intentionally tune in to the elements of nature and draw lines of connection between seemingly disparate ideas. A few examples (these are by no means groundbreaking, but I am trying to make a point):
-The pattern of a leaf mimics the human vascular structure, which can be applied to an artistic exploration of the human form and how it’s intertwined with plant matter.
-The rush of a waterfall brings to surface suppressed rage, which can be translated into an interpretative performance, a poem, or a visual work of art.
-The sound of a particular bird song is reminiscent of the voice of a loved one, which can inspire an original musical score or visual montage.
And so on.
If you don’t have access to nature in the traditional sense, some of these practices can be carried into urban environments as well. The invitation is simply to look more closely, to move beyond the surface of things. A city walk can become its own quiet form of communion: feeling the pavement beneath your feet, taking in the rise and rhythm of surrounding structures, noticing the ebb and flow of strangers, and observing the pigeons, rats, and squirrels who share the streets with us.
III. Connect with Others
This one is challenging for me, as I have strong hermit tendencies. That said, meeting new people, engaging in meaningful conversation, or even quietly observing human interaction (not in a creepy, eavesdropping, or voyeuristic type of way) can be a powerful source of creative inspiration. Paying attention to details such as body language, vocal inflection, personal style, etc. reveals so much.
When I’m working on a piece of fiction, I spend a great deal of time observing behavior and considering why people do what they do, using these observations to inform character development and deepen my understanding. Much like my relationship to reading, getting to know people from varied backgrounds and consciously setting aside judgment and preconceived ideas opens me up intellectually, spiritually, and creatively. We are all multifaceted, complex beings, and there is so much to notice, learn, and appreciate.
That is all for today. Stay tuned for the final essay in this series!
