Stay Curious

One of the foundations of my creative life, is to stay curious. I feel sorry for
people who think they know everything, and are always trying to impress their
"knowledge" on those around them.

One of my mentors told me when I was
22 – "The more you learn about the world, the more you realize you know
nothing." This was long before the limitless and exhausting supply of facts and
images available on the internet. Yet despite all the endless knowledge that is
available in seconds online, why is it there are still people who seem to know
it all?

One of the great mysteries of the Universe! *wink*

No
matter how many books you've read, how many museums you've visited, how many
different places one has checked off the bucket list… there is always
something more to see, to learn, to absorb and process. Just about the time we
think we know something, another layer of information is revealed. Technology
allows us to pull ever-more details out of the invisible world around us.
Accumulated statistics reveal patterns that boggle the mind.

Another
thing I learned from my mentor was to be generous with one's knowledge. We learn
the most when we teach others. Our world gets very small when we huddle over our
skill set and knowledge base. "Aha!" moments often come when our ideas are
reflected back to us by others, especially students who ask a lot of
questions!

In Fine Art and Fashion, ideas and influences spread like
wildfire. A true Creative will always have more ideas and more inspirational
firestorms than those who put all their energy into controlling the use of their
work. What would have happened if Van Gogh had worried about copyright and
copycats? A true visionary is always looking ahead, not backward.

In the
creative fields of art and design, if we want to be a leader, we are constantly
spinning off the progression of ideas around us, and weaving or stitching
(literally or figuratively) those ideas into something that looks new but is
really a unique way of combining and expressing what has come before. Our work
is inspired and influenced by others, whether we admit it or not, consciously or
unconsciously, and hopefully our work then inspires others. It is a grand spiral
of creative Lifeforce that has elliptical cycles but has reinvented itself on
every loop.

All of my adult life I have been a Continuing Ed student, and
I've tried to take classes that really challenge my brain. When I travel I try
to sign up for a guided tour with an academic-oriented guide. When I return
home, I bring along history books that will help me with a deeper understanding
of my travel experience.

…and in the end I discover…I still know
nothing!

How do you stay curious?