From time to time, I pick up the book, Creators on Creating, and read a bit. It is a collection of essays written by world-famous novelists, poets, scientists, and the like. They reflect on their own creative processes, each in his or her own way. Each essay is only a few pages long; they are short, but long enough to get a good understanding of the author’s thoughts.
I am currently reading one written by Cathy Johnson, a naturalist author. She writes about curiosity as an integral part of human nature. In order to fuel her own curiosity and creativity, she says that wandering (through nature) is the best way for her to feed that flame. It keeps her from becoming too single-minded, and pulls her off that straight and narrow path. She gives herself permission to wander, without a plan or preconceived ideas. By keeping an open mind and an open eye, the discoveries to be made are like treasures for her.
Image by Free-Photos from Pixabay
For someone (…me) who tends to be focused and fixated on “getting it done”, because that is just how I am, Cathy’s descriptions sound decadent and almost childlike. No disrespect is meant by saying that. Maybe the better phrasing is “simply delightful”. I can remember being like that when I was younger, exploring for hours and hours. I think maybe a lot of us can relate to this. What happens that causes us to lose that desire to wander and explore? Growing up, our interests change and responsibilities increase. Maybe we just don’t have as much time as we used to. Did we lose interest altogether? Did we lose our curiosity about the natural world around us? Did we get lost in our phones? It makes me sad to believe that. I will try to follow Cathy’s lead a bit more. The ironic thing about that, is that I will have to put a reminder in my phone so that I don’t forget to go wandering.
What are you thinking about today?
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