Cherish Unanswered Questions
overview
Being curious and thinking in questions is one of the pillars of Wonder. It is easy to associate the act (and mindset) of Thinking in Questions with striving to come up with answers. Sometimes you Delay Finding the Answer tactically to allow yourself to identify more possibilities and opportunities. But some questions will remain unanswered for quite some time (or even indefinitely). When you cherish these questions, you can turn them into long-lasting fuel of Creativity.
Celebrate the unanswered questions and keep them living. You don’t need to actively seek the answer for them all the time, but just allow them to be there in the background. Whether you will eventually come up with a solution or not, these long-lasting questions will affect many things you Experience and Observe, and will eventually find their way into your creative insights.
actionable steps
Don’t dismiss questions that are left unanswered. Don’t be discouraged by them either.
Take note of these questions, and make them present. Don’t forcibly try to answer them, but keep musing on them.
Let the questions affect what you Experience, Observe, and Wonder consciously and unconsciously. Let them blend into the things your Fuse.
examples
Example 1
The walls in the studio of Olafur Eliasson, the Danish-Icelandic artist, are covered with random pictures, articles, insights, and questions collected by his fellow artists. Anything they find interesting can find its way onto these walls.
Among these eclectic ingredients, there are quite a few unanswered questions, which might be there for years. These unanswered questions might never get answered. However, they are always visible, even if the artists are not conscious of them. They affect the artists and their creative work.