Curiosity Killed the Creative

There is no black or white in a creatives' life, just endless shades of grey we haven’t discovered yet, but are consumed by pursuing.

And this is our curse, or at least one of them. I’m often times envious of other’s ability to accept things as they are. They look at something, appreciate it as it is, and move on. Even when they don’t like or appreciate it they’re able to say it suck and move onto something else.

Unlike them I find myself fixating on everything. If something looks cool, I want to know how to recreate it. If something tastes good I want to know how to make it myself and make it better, or just different. If something doesn’t work I want to know why. Moreover I want to know what the mindset of the creator was when they made it.

This invades every aspect. I can’t watch a movie or show without noticing lighting or strange camera movements or blocking. And as I dive into other hobbies like climbing, biohacking or business I’m immediately overwhelmed by the number of directions and possibilities I could take it. Most guys’ search history is full of porn links (or at least that’s how the cliche goes). Mine, however looks like some sadistic labyrinth guarded by a minotaur that keeps chasing me down a different rabbit hole. Chased this way and that to dead end after dead end then doubling back to pursue something shiny, driven ever onward by the Minotaur of curiosity. Even this metaphor can’t decide what it wants to be anymore!

Now, this curiosity driven madness can be a useful thing in the life of a creative entrepreneur. The ideas are constant and the wellspring of curiosity is never ending. All of this means the opportunities are also constant and never ending.

What I’ve run into, or maybe just now become aware of, though, is that my follow through doesn’t always have the same lifespan. For every 10 ideas there’s a graveyard of at least 9 of them that never panned out the way I thought, stumped me entirely, or just got pushed aside when the questions they raised in my mind were answered.

It’s not that I don’t have grit or follow through. Quite to the contrary, I pride myself in being one of the hardest working most stubbornly committed people you’ll ever meet.

The problem, I think, is that repeated curiosity driven projects and ideas not producing results starts to take a toll. Not only does it ware me down mentally and physically, but it can also up the frantic pace at which I pull the curiosity strings in the future. Because now not only do I expect them to scratch the proverbial itch. I also start to expect them to pan out in business and career success.

This raises the stakes a bit, because now that playful Creativity Minotaur chasing me down idea rabbit holes isn’t so playful. Now if he catches up to me and I run out of steam, or if I’m unable to complete the task before I’m chased off to another idea then I’m that much closer to a gruesome career death.

But what does this all mean? Do we, as creatives, need to curb our curiosity? Do we need to plug some of those rabbit holes up, at least until we’ve completed a project or two? Do we need to be more accepting of how things are?

Personally, I don’t know if curbing that is even feasible without being consumed by the very thing we’re trying to control. But I do feel like there has to be some sort of solution to harnessing it. Curiosity is an incredibly powerful tool. But, not too differently from something like OCD or ADD, I also thing it can be incredibly dangerous and derailing if not treated correctly.

So what do you think the answer is? How do you harness your creativity, especially when trying to use it in a career and professional world?

- GALEN MURRAY -

VISUAL VAGABONDS Owner/DP