This month I’m participating in the A to Z Challenge, blogging every day of the month of April, except Sundays, on a topic from A to Z. I’m posting short-form topics meant to get you talking and sharing! Join the discussion in the comments.

From Wired to Create by Scott Barry Kaufman and Carolyn Gregoire:

“For not only artists but innovators of all stripes, new experiences provide the crucial tissue of real-world material that can be spun into original work. Openness to experience — the drive for cognitive exploration of one’s inner and outer worlds — is the single strongest and most consistent personality trait that predicts creative achievement.”

Diving into new experiences helps keep our creativity alive; in order to make art we have to have something to say, and that requires that we study the world and play in it and figure it out.

I love travel and try to make a regular habit of it; in March I spent five days in Iceland. The natural scenery there is amazing, the food is delicious and made with love, and the people are proud and have fascinating stories to tell. Visiting there not only gave me a few days’ respite from worrying about my daily life, it incited my curiosity about this unusual place. I’m imagining diving further into the world of Icelandic myths and possibly writing a young adult novel that has something to do with Odin and Freya. Did you know they were shape shifters? Maybe this will become a theme for me …

This is how our work begins, with places and people and experiences that make us want to create. That make us imagine and dream.

What are you curious about? What are the strange and unusual things that fascinate and intrigue you? What new places have you been to or new experiences have you had lately that have inspired new imaginings for you?