Creative Thinking Prompt: w/c 11 March 2024
It's time to scratch an itch!! 🤨
After being a ‘watcher’ last week, we're now taking that noticing a little bit further, and diving deeper into our curiosity…
So as a recap to this month's theme, and why ‘wonder’ is so powerful, here's the definition I gave last week (which I totally love!):
What is ‘wonder’?
“Wonder makes us more creative and more desirous of studying the world around us. It makes us humble, less materialistic, more generous, and better community members… Wonder makes us less stressed and feel like we have more time… Wonder quite simply makes us want to be better, more tolerant people.” (Parker, 2023)
March's creative thinking theme:
THE ELEMENTS OF WONDER
Element 2 - WANDER (curiosity)
And ‘a’ or an ‘o? That is the question!
Wonder or Wander.
For me, they are intertwined, so it really doesn’t matter! Wandering refers more to a physical movement, but this can be interpreted as a ‘wander through our mind’ when it comes to wondering too, so I won’t dwell on the difference (which is surprising coming from a linguist like me!)
But I digress (or have I simply wandered…..?)🤔
Parker defines this element of wonder as follows:
“Wandering is an inquisitive cognitive stroll that allows curiosity to flourish - a meandering of the mind, and in some cases, a meandering of the body and soul, too.”
Monica C Parker - The Power of Wonder
Curiosity is what has kept the human race alive. The seeking phase of curiosity causes a dopamine release which motivates further exploration - the beautiful cycle of curiosity. When we discover something that’s interesting to us, it “gives us a pop of pleasure [as] we scratch that curiosity itch” (Parker, 2023:42).
Inventions, discoveries, world-changing thoughts - all have been achieved through curiosity and wonder. Einstein famously said:
“I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious.”
Creative Thinking Prompt (w/c 11 March 2024)
So this week I encourage you to scratch your curiosity itch! (I kinda love that way of saying it but also don’t! 🤭)
Skip past the small talk with yourself and go deeper with your questioning. And this could equally be with someone else too (although maybe don’t go straight in with an in-depth question to a stranger!).
Instead of only noticing the trees in the forest - their colours, the shadows they create, or the shape of their leaves and branches - go deeper with your questions and be curious about why they are certain colours and how those colours vary within the same tree. Why did this forest grow here in particular? Does it suddenly end, or just slowly fade out into the surrounding landscape? What are the kind of people who come here? Who would you be surprised to see? What would you think (or say!) if you saw a celebrity in their wellies strolling towards you? (This happened to me when I saw Jarvis Cocker in the Peak District. I said nothing. But it made me curious about why he was there - turned out he has a house there, which we found out from the shopkeeper! You see, all curiosity leads to new discoveries!)
I listened to a podcast the other day with the ‘Curiosity expert’ Scott Shigeoka - he gave an example of a deeper question when talking to someone else:
“Instead of asking what their name is, ask them the story of their name.” (Or maybe as a follow-up question!).
I thought this was really nice.
How will this month's prompts impact your creativity?
Wonder is the precursor to creativity. It is magical yet equally scientific. It's what everyone in history has done in order to advance in the world, invent new things, innovative concepts, and world-changing revelations. By breaking wonder down into its elements, we are able to really see how to be more wondrous in our daily lives - which elements we find easy and which we perhaps struggle with. It will be an enlightening month of creative thinking, wondering about our wondering, and seeing how this helps with our work, our parenting, and our own creativity and wellbeing.
Remember this equation:
Deeper curiosity = more insights = more experiences to draw upon when you need to be creative.
So easy when you know how, right?