The word inspiration has roots in the Latin word for breath, spiritus, which of course also gives us spirit. To be in-spired is to be breathed into, filled with the breath of a god, a muse, some super-rational force beyond, as it were, the known.

Curiosity – the habit of asking “what happens if…”? – opens the door to experimentation and joyful, even exhilarating realms of creativity. Fulfilling work builds itself out of a string of tiny seemingly trivial experiments and the “happy accidents” that occur when you’re problem solving without overthinking. The question is, how can we cultivate that? 

It may seem obvious (or perhaps irrelevant), but to become interested in “what if,” to be curious about what might lie “beyond the known,” you have to admit to not knowing everything. For many, that’s already too vulnerable a position. But inspiration won’t have room to happen if you are afraid to admit you don’t know everything (and especially if you are afraid to admit to not knowing things you believe you “should” or are “supposed to” know already). If you aren’t humble enough to own uncertainty, you risk losing curiosity and the inspiration it sets free. 

Creative people, the kind of people who get inspired, are people who ask, what if? What if I change this shape? What if I deviate from the color scheme? What if I took out this tree, changed this laugh line, eliminated certain objects from my still life? What if I let go of my desire to bring each piece to as close to perfect as possible in the least amount of time possible?

For these creators, each “experiment” opens up a new range of possibilities to explore, and that’s a good thing. Not knowing everything allows you to wonder. Wondering is a kind of dreaming. Wondering, asking “what if,” isn’t practical, it doesn’t lead directly to technically perfect work, and it isn’t going to pay the rent. And yet, “wonder is the feeling of a philosopher, and philosophy begins in wonder,” Socrates said. Wonder is the treasure that children possess and adults don’t. Wonder is freedom and life.

Stay curious. Be curious about the world and what’s in it. Ask questions, admit you don’t know everything, be wrong sometimes, explore ideas, risk wonder, and always, always stay open to learning.

Some of history’s greatest creators, Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo for example, were insatiably curious, eager to know and to learn more, mad to explore the natural world and apply what they learned in their artwork.

Keep wondering:

  • What would happen if ………………………?
  • What was this or that artist trying to do or “say” in their work and why?
  • What do I like and why do I like it?
  • What comes next?

Pablo Picasso, Garçon à la pipe, 1905

And sometimes
when the softened winds
allot their luminous equilibrium
to heaven and to earth,
you stand in its flow
celestial-terrestrial
knowing the diaphanous hour—
the rose;

the eye however raises her up
beyond flower and fruit,
gently absolving the heart
and so she grows out of the betwixt and between
into distances that no eye can see. 

  • From “The Rose Poem,” by Jean Gebser, trans. Aaron Cheak. (Rubedo Press.)

When was the last time you experimented with something because you were curious to see what would happen.? Art can be a great way to relearn how to explore possibilities. Tried and true has its place, but as creatives we also need to push the boundaries and this is challenging because we are then venturing into unsafe territory. All those ugly questions raise their ugly heads –

  • What if it fails
  • What if it’s not good enough – and by extension – I’m not good enough
  • Aren’t there already experts in this field – I’m too old, I’ll never catch up
  • Who am I to think I can go down this path?

But then, remember what Georgia O’Keeffe said: “I’ve been absolutely terrified every moment of my life, and I’ve never let it keep me from doing a single thing I wanted to do.”

Bam. What are you not doing, exploring, taking further, being curious about, because you are afraid of, terrified of! doing it and what it might MEAN or what might or might not happen if you did!

Do it now!

Karen Knutson, “Ready to Fly with Style,” 10.5″ x 14,” Watercolor, collage, charcoal powder

Mixed Media can be a great way to explore possibilities without having to know everything right from the start. Karen Knutson’s video on using mixed media is a veritable mama-bird’s nest of fun and stimulating ways to ask “What if?”! Check it out here.