“We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we’re curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.” ~ Walt Disney
Curiosity may have killed the cat…
But you are not a cat. Instead, what if it could it unlock your creative potential?
There is a dynamic relationship between curiosity and creativity. What if you became more curious about living life from different perspectives?
What would you discover?
Self-Discovery Needs Quiet Time
Let me explain. Discovery requires the willingness and discipline to find a place where you can be quiet, where there are no interruptions. Start by taking some breaths to release any pent up emotion. Then let your breath take you deeper into your own quiet space. When you feel balanced and calm, you can ask yourself questions about a situation.
Explore possible scenarios listening carefully to your internal dialogue. Are you traveling down familiar pathways in the scenario? If so, flip your perspective. Are there other approaches you could take?
Notice if there are other influences which may not appear on the surface. Is there something underneath you cannot quite feel? Be aware of other questions that come to mind.
Now select another aspect of the situation and bring it into the present moment. Has something changed in your perspective? Do you feel as “attached” to the situation? Scan your body to see how you are feeling.
Your body has flow, your perspectives have flow and your thoughts have flow.
You can work with flow. What happens when you ease up and let go of the inner fight? Ah. Then you are available to change. Change lies in the direction of your potential.
Connecting with Your Potential
Can you take this knowledge and go in a new direction? When you are aware of your tendencies—your patterns—you can do something different!
- Holding on? Are you looking for what is wrong? Looking for what is wrong is not productive. Concern occupies mental space and energy. You place yourself and others in a box. What if you were to expand your awareness and utilize a different approach? Imagine looking at the situation from another viewpoint. How does your perspective change? Has the feeling in your body changed?
- Consider the unknowns. There are always new directions to take and new choices to make. Work with the ones you feel an inner urge to explore. Take the steps that open you to a feeling of freedom of expression. Speak the truth you feel is necessary. Pay attention to your inner compass. You may need to take more steps than you anticipated, but they may be necessary. If you take a shortcut, you might end up in a dead-end!
- Situations repeat themselves. There is something you need to learn from repetitive experiences. Do you believe there is more to realize? Are there new aspects to examine? Are there elements that are hanging on and ready to be released? Situations get stronger each time they are repeated. It’s like the Universe is encouraging you to “get” the learning!
- Are you limiting your outlook? Are you focused only on the end-goal? Some options cannot be seen until you are actually on the path; they unfold as you take your steps. Things move with a rhythm or flow when you are navigating with inner direction. Take action and listen; adjust your direction as needed. The end-goal may be very different from the original. You may find it has been replaced with an expanded path that surpasses the original.
- Distance yourself from the situation. What would the stranger across the street tell you? Look at the situation from the viewpoint of that stranger. There are options outside of your field of vision. How does he/she describe it? What does he/she suggest? Look at the same situation from the viewpoint of a favorite teacher, counselor or mentor. How does he/she describe it? What does he/she suggest?
Taking Action
Curiosity opens new channels in your life for exploration and taking action. Curiosity leads you to exploration and wonder. Exploration provides the stage for experiencing life more fully. Wonder brings you into the mysteries of life.
The mysteries of life reveal themselves as you expand and explore your potential.
You are ready for a life of discovery, aren’t you?
Reflection Time
Take a breath. Release it. Take another. Devote some dedicated time of concentration/meditation to this. It doesn’t need to be hours of quiet, perhaps only 15 minutes. Then allow the question to simmer within you. Let responses bubble up into your awareness. Notice new ways of thinking, of images or ideas that arise spontaneously. Pay attention to your dreams. Let it happen. Be aware. See where it leads you next. Let yourself savor this process of receiving from yourself. Don’t judge whatever comes up, just receive it. Make notes.
You may want to share something from this process. Sharing is an important way to anchor an insight in your body. It leads you to deeper insight. It stimulates action.
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10 Responses
I love to play the imagine if game to gain another perspective or when dwelling on negativity too much 🙂 it also helps me to open up to a life of discovery.
Thanks Nadia. The fun begins when the “imagine if” becomes the new piece of your reality. A life of discovery–yes!
I think that “what if….?” is one of the best questions ever invented! I find it really useful in exploration and discovery. I have been on a lot of start-up teams and love them — in large part because of the unexpected opportunities to be creative. That’s what I thought of when you said “some options can’t be seen until you’re actually ON the path.” Thanks for another relevant and thought-provoking post!
You are welcome, Andrea! I agree–asking “what if” can open so many new doors to step through.
Love curiosity as a tool for seeing what’s possible and thinking big! The power of asking a curious question can be transformative. Another great post, Laurie!
Thanks Minette. Being curious about my inner experience has taken me out of being judgmental about those same experiences. It has brought me to a deeper sense of inner knowing and trust.
Great post and right up my alley. I am a delightfully curious force of nature!
Cause for celebration, Shann!
When I was ten years old I overheard my maternal grandmum (she was!) offer reassurance to my mother by saying, “He’ll grow out of it by the time he’s thirty…” Grow out of what, I wondered…
Now I understand that she thought I might have begun to toe some imaginary line of conformity by the time twenty years had elapsed; but here I am at the age of 76 still trying to find out what I was expected to grow into by my grandmum’s lights!
My favourite philosopher offers the advice always to do OTHERWISE. OTHER-WISE seems to me to be the ideal state…
I think the suggestion to avoid focus on an end-goal is brilliant. The idea that one’s working towards something pre-defined is a huge constraint on FLOW.
I’m glad you’ve never toed the line!
I suppose we continue to ‘grow into’; as long as it is our own picture and not someone else’s! My pictures change and evolve, morphing into something at once unrecognizable and magnificent.