How to Be an Explorer of the World: Portable Life Museum by Keri Smith
Creativity – A Scrapbook of Advice – Keri Smith on How to Be an Explorer of the World
This book is a hodge-podge of resources, full of tips and ideas to stir the creative process within each of us. Think of the book as a toolbox for creativity where the world becomes fieldwork for the imagination. The author encourages the reader to pay attention to all the experiences of life and write down that which is worth noting.
The chapters are arranged so that they can be read in any order – easy to read and quick to stir the imagination toward wonder. There are endless possibilities to creativity when we pay close attention to the world around us.
I appreciate how this book is arranged as a scrapbook of advice on how to observe, explore, and engage in the world around us. The author challenges the reader to pay attention to life within one’s surroundings.
Some Guiding Principles (see page 5 in the book for the full list; these are the ones I most resonate)
- Always be looking
- Notice the stories going on around you
- Document your findings – take notes
- Use all your senses in your explorations and investigations
- Everything is interesting – look closer
Way to analyze the world
- Observe
- Collect
- Analyze
- Compare
- Notice patterns
Look with all your eyes, look. – Jules Verne
The author encourages the reader to carry with you a metaphorical suitcase that contains your unique vision of the world. Also carry a real notebook and a pen to document what you see and experience as an explorer of the world. In other words, pay attention to the world around you and write down what stirs your curiosity.
For me, photography is a way to stir my creativity. In addition to the camera on my phone, I almost always carry a camera with me. My favorite venue for photography is nature. Mountains, forest, lakes, and trails drive clarity and mindfulness through my head. I also take photos of quotes and ordinary, simple objects that help me pay closer attention to deeper matters of life.
The author provides some great exercises and suggestions for activities in being an explorer. For example, collect things on your way to and from work. Or, make a list of things to document and/or collect (page 23 has some great suggestions). Some examples: round things, fabric, things from trees, overheard conversations, security patterns on envelopes, maps, numbers, words, and really tiny things, etc.
One example of my collecting things…
During a flight one weekend, on both legs of the trip, I unexpectedly collected two things found in my seat pocket. One was a card from the UNO card game. This brought a flood of great memories of playing this card game as a child. I even journaled about some of those memories during the flight. The second collection in the seat pocket was a book on Time Management. What a treasure for someone who loves to read! The UNO card is now a bookmark for my reading.
This was a simple activity of paying attention and collecting a couple of things in the midst of a day in transit. Both the mindset and the objects helped foster the creative process.
Some may think this exercise of collecting things is trivial or unimportant. I beg to differ. Taking time to pay attention to what you see, what you experience in the world, is a unique process only to you. Your perspective is literally one in billions throughout the world. Your intentionality about your creative process, even if a part of you thinks it is such a crazy idea, is worth doing. Yes, it is also a crazy idea, and this kind of crazy can be a good thing.
Other Tips for Invoking the Imagination
- Ask questions
- Go for a walk
- Never leave home without a notebook and pen
- Expect the unexpected and you will find it
You are an explorer, proceed with curiosity; take notes along the way. – Keri Smith
What stirs your creative process?
What do you observe and document in your world?
How do you express your creativity?
Do you have a scrapbook of your ideas? Creations?
What tools help you invoke the imagination?
Anything can be a starting place – begin where you are. – Keri Smith
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