What are you curious about?
On my way down to Drexel University this week in Philadelphia, I listened to a podcast of an interview with a successful author and entrepreneur. At one point he said that his earliest memory was one of being curious. He then said, “Curiosity is the essence of someone who solves problems.”
So I decided to give myself a problem while looking for a bench: what could I wonder about as I wandered?
Some things were easy. It’s hard not to be drawn by a large dragon sculpture -- and to mull over why it was there. (That answer came easily. Marco the Magnificent is the school mascot. And he’s everywhere.)
A dramatic fire escape made me consider if it was planned when the ornate building was constructed or added later.
But other ponderings called for more observation. What was this young woman studying so intently?
How could such a smartly-dressed man be so stupid as to smoke?
What brought these two women into the world of coeds?
Why is that one window different?
And who in their right mind would order anything from a truck with a cow like this on it?
All this questioning reminded me of something Denise Shekerjian, author of Uncommon Genius, wrote: “Noticing has a cousin: curiosity.” The latter flows out of the former. If one sits down long enough to notice the world around, questions naturally arise.
True inquisitiveness goes deeper. Honestly, none of these questions matter to me enough to find an answer. But even idle speculation has a purpose. It can lead to creating. If noticing asks “What is it?” and curiosity, “Why is it?” then creativity adds “What can it become?” The cigarette above might become a visual metaphor for rebellion in a painting. Or the start of a new genre of campus film noir.
So, in my search to rediscover my personal art, perhaps it’s as simple as seeing it as a quest for questions.
Now, isn’t that a curious thing?
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