Unleashing Your Creativity
I’m periodically asked about my blog posts. “Where do you come up with your ideas?” I think the answer is simple: I’m curious
To say “I like to learn” sounds boring, and most people can’t resonate with that. C’mon, that’s what school was for, right? So let me say it another way: I’m curious.
It’s rather sad how too many of us lose our curiosity. Yet, we love being around small children with their unending curiosity. We even tolerate their non-stop questions because we enjoy seeing the lights come on as they learn and discover new things.
But somewhere along the way we stopped asking questions. When we ask a question, we’re informing others that we don’t know the answer—and who wants to look dumb? So we keep our mouths—and our minds—shut. But wonderful things can come out of dumb questions.
Several years ago, my wife and I were at Greenfield Village in Dearborn, Michigan. Henry Ford moved several historic buildings to this village, including the Wright Brothers’ home and bicycle shop. We were the only ones in the home with the young guide. He told us all about the home, the rooms downstairs, and how the family used the house. But then my wife, Mary, asked a dumb question. “What’s upstairs?”
“Those are the bedrooms.” (Duh) He informed us that no one goes up there, but then he paused. “Y’know, no one’s here, so let’s go upstairs.” So we got a glimpse of history others don’t see all because Mary asked a question.
One of my first seminary professors often reminded us to keep on learning. He said, “When I visit in friends’ homes, I check out their bookshelves to see what year they died.” To his way of thinking, if there are no new books, there’s no new learning. He believed that, when we stop reading and learning, we start to die. Or at least we stop living.
I couldn’t agree more.
Because I’m curious, I read. Because I’m curious, I watch documentaries.
But it doesn’t stop there. There is an unspoken question underneath my curiosity: God, what can I learn from this? I often can’t help but see a spiritual connection or parallel.
Embrace your God-given curiosity. Learn. Seek to discover God’s amazing world and what He wants to teach you through it.
Want to be creative? Be curious! Ask questions. I want to hug the person who was curious and asked, “What would happen if I mixed honey and mustard?” Curiosity led to creativity that continues to delight my taste buds.
God is so creative. He created over 350,000 species of just beetles! We are made in the image of God (Gen. 1:27), so it’s reasonable to conclude we are meant to be creative too. Those who don’t think they’re creative have lost their curiosity. They’ve resolved themselves to the status quo and don’t think they can add anything new. Disagree? Consider the pictures you drew as a preschooler to your drawings today. As a kid, you had no inhibitions when it came to your crayons. But odds are, you probably don’t draw today because you don’t think you can. That preschooler is still in you. Resurrect your curiosity. Dream. Just go for it.
The world needs your creativity. Be curious. Try something new. You can dream something and create something that can lead others to think about God in a way they never thought before.
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