Curiosita:
The Path to Your Genius
If you’ve stifled your curiosity, learn to unleash it by using writing, drawing, and journals as discovery tools.
Thomas Huxley on Learning
“Sit down before fact as a little child, be prepared to give up every conceived notion, follow humbly wherever and whatever abysses nature leads, or you will learn nothing.” — Thomas Huxley
What Fascinates You?
You’re born curious, but by the time you’ve finished your schooling, your curiosity has been blunted, having taken on too many “shoulds” and “oughts.” Let Leonardo da Vinci be your model for life-long learning. Leonardo never stopped being interested in, and fascinated by, the world around him, and he never bothered with what anyone thought he should do: he let his curiosity lead him.
Curiosity is the foundation of your genius. In this lesson, you’ll prod your curiosity into action. If you haven’t already done so, read Michael Gelb’s discussion on Curiosità on pages 49 to 55 of How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci, and do the Curiosità Self-Assessment on page 56.
Passione
Da Vinci had a passion for learning that stayed with him throughout his life. Here’s a passage from his journals, quoted on page 50 of our textbook:
I roamed the countryside searching for answers to things I did not understand. Why shells existed on the tops of mountains along with the imprints of coral and plants and seaweed usually found in the sea. Why the thunder lasts a longer time than that which causes it, and why immediately on its creation, the lightning becomes visible to the eye while thunder requires time to travel. How the various circles of water form around the spot that has been struck by a stone, and why a bird sustains itself in the air. These questions and other phenomena engage my thought throughout my life.
What engages you? Think about the ways in which you could turbo-charge your own curiosity. Do you limit your desire for knowledge to those subjects that are work-related or “useful” in some way? When you don’t know the answer to a question, do you shrug your shoulders and give up, or do you make a note to find out the answer? Don’t be afraid to let your curiosity run free. Often you’ll find that a subject that started out as something you investigated for interest’s sake alone becomes important to you later. Make a commitment to follow your passions now and to recover your childlike sense of wonder and exploration.
In this lesson, your aims are to develop an awareness of the power of curiosity, as well as to become proud of your curiosity. You’ll also work on developing a journaling habit — Leonardo was never far from his notebooks. Finally, you’ll learn contemplation and meditation techniques that will help you reduce stress and gain access to the non-verbal part of your brain.
Take the Museum Tour
To explore the wide range of Leonardo’s curiosity abut the natural world, click on the Museum Tour icon below and explore Floor 1 of our virtual museum of Leonardo’s work. Click on each wing, then click on the name of the graphic you want to see. Floor 1 includes Leonardo’s sketches of the human body, churches, flowers, and the wings of birds, among others.
[Flash Animation: Think Like Leonardo DaVinci Museum, 1st Floor Window]
Exploring Your Curiosità
Childhood Fascination
- Are you less curious or more curious than you were as a child?
- How do you feel your early schooling experiences helped or hindered your curiosity?
- Did you have a favorite teacher who encouraged you?
Join your fellow students on the Message Board and share thoughts about how your schooling experiences affected your curiosity.
What Would You Study if Only You Had the Time?
Make a list of subjects that interest you — that you want to study “some day.” Make the list as long or as short as you like. You might want to share your list with other students on the Message Board. You may find someone who shares your interest or is an expert in a subject you want to learn.
On the next page, we’ll move on to the everyday tools you’ll use as you learn to think like Leonardo da Vinci.
A Journal to Remember
Visit The Journey Is the Destination (http://www.daneldon.org) for Dan Eldon’s journals. Eldon died at just 22, but the photojournalist left a collection of journals that are a mixture of photos, sketches, found images, and much more. If you’re not sure how to start journaling, visit this site for inspiration. Do you think Eldon was inspired by Leonardo?
Using Writing and Drawing As Discovery Tools
Life happens in the moment. Unless you take the time to record some of these moments, you’ll lose your genius-quality inspirations and ideas. Make the most of your life by recording your experiences.
Taking a few minutes to journal as you go through your busy day has these benefits:
- It sharpens your mental focus.
- It wakes up your subconscious mind and right brain so that you’re using “whole-brain” thinking (more on this in Lesson 6 on Arte/Scienza). Writing and drawing will stimulate your subconscious so that it sends you a stream of ideas on how to do things better and faster.
- It gets you in the habit of recording ideas when they come to you (sudden inspirations are like dreams; they fade quickly unless you write them down).
- It reduces stress.
- It allows you to both plan and review your days more effectively.
How to Start Your Journaling
Writing is a process of discovery. If you’ve never kept a journal, you might be wondering how to start. You’ll evolve your own way of journaling over time. The easiest way to start your new journaling habit is to record a slice of life: write down where you are and describe the situation using your senses. What do you see, hear, touch, smell, and taste?
Try it right now. Set a time limit, say five minutes, and force yourself to keep writing until the time’s up. Setting a time limit and forcing yourself to produce ensures that you don’t sit chewing your pen or staring at the computer screen: you’ll actually get something written. You’ll be amazed that after a couple of minutes, you’ll start writing about something other than the situation around you. That’s great; just keep writing whatever pops into your head. (See “Free-Writing: Stream of Consciousness” below.)
What’s Best for Journaling: Pen and Paper or Computer?
Your choice of journal format is entirely up to you. Here are some tips:
- Keeping more than one journal (one for work, another for your hobby, yet another for a current project) is confusing. Limit yourself to two journals, and carry them with you everywhere. If you keep two journals, consider making one a visual journal.
- While keeping a journal on your PC is handy if you’re a 70-word-a-minute typist, don’t keep your journal on a computer unless you have a notebook computer or Palm handheld that’s always nearby. You should take your journal with you everywhere.
- Don’t share your journal with others unless you’re supremely self-assured. You should feel extremely comfortable writing your thoughts in your journal. If you’re worried that others will read it, there’s a chance you’ll censor yourself.
- On the other hand, occasionally you may want to share what you’ve written. If you’re proud of an insightful journal entry, feel free to share it on the Message Board.
Free-Writing: Stream of Consciousness
If you have trouble writing reports or essays, you’ll love this technique, which is described on page 63 of How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci.
Basically, the technique involves deciding on a question or a topic, and setting a time limit (10 minutes, 15 minutes, half an hour). Then write whatever comes into your head, without taking your pen from the paper, or your fingers from the keyboard, for that time. Just write, whether what you’re writing happens to be related to the topic or not. You may spend the first minute writing “I don’t know what to write,” but you’ll be amazed at the quality of the material you produce overall.
Use stream of consciousness writing to explore:
- Problems
- Your initial thoughts on a topic before you write a report
- A decision you have to make
- Goals you want to set
Try These Free-Writing Exercises
Set an alarm for 10 minutes. Then free-write on:
- The happiest day of my life
- My most vexing challenge
- My talents and what I’m doing to develop them
Make Daily Appointments to Journal
Commit to writing in your journal at specific times during the day:
- When you wake up: don’t lose those early-morning inspirations, record them.
- At lunchtime: journal in the park or in a restaurant.
- In the evening before bed: this is a good time to review your day or contemplate a question. If you don’t get an answer to your question during your initial contemplation, you may wake up with it in the morning.
Start the Beginner’s Da Vinci Drawing Course
If you’re a confirmed non-artist, here’s your chance to try something new. On page 262 of How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci, you’ll find The Beginner’s Da Vinci Drawing Course. Don’t be intimidated. Try it; it’s fun. As Michael Gelb says: “If you can see, you can draw.”
[Flash Animation: Think Like Leonardo DaVinci Museum, 1st Floor Window]
Let’s move on to exploring the da Vincian tools of contemplation and meditation.
Rumi on Silence
“No more words. Hear only the voice within.” — Rumi
Contemplation and Meditation
Contemplation is a form of meditation. It sounds like hard and serious work, but it’s incredibly relaxing as well as productive. You can use contemplation simply to relax, to come up with new ideas, or to problem-solve.
Read and do the Contemplation Exercise on page 63 of How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci to get yourself familiar with the art of pondering.
You Can Meditate Anywhere
Meditation reduces anxiety, tension, and stress. You can meditate anywhere, anytime, just by bringing your attention back to your breathing. No one else needs to know what you’re doing. You can bring your attention to your breath in a meeting, while you’re driving, or while standing at the checkout line at the supermarket.
Meditation only has two rules: keep your spine straight and your breathing unrestricted. Therefore, you can meditate standing up, sitting, or lying on the floor.
Here’s how:
Close your office door, and turn off the phone. Decide on a time limit: five minutes, 10 minutes, or longer. There’s no need to set a timer, but you can if you wish.
Sit on a hard-backed chair with your spine straight. Keep your feet flat on the floor, and rest your hands on your knees or thighs. Your eyes may be open or closed; whichever allows you to focus more easily.
Take three deep breaths and relax, but don’t slump; keep your spine straight.
Listen to your breathing, but don’t try to manipulate your breathing in any way. Simply listen to the breath entering and leaving your body.
Place your mental focus on your navel, the point between your eyebrows, or on your nostrils.
As soon as you become aware that you are thinking, and have stopped listening to your breath, return to listening.
Dealing With Extraneous Thoughts and Strong Emotions
Meditation teachers say, “What you resist, persists.”
If you’re bedeviled by a rush of thoughts as you still your mind and try to stay with your breath, be gentle with yourself. When you catch yourself losing your focus, just bring your attention back to your breath, over and over again.
Meditation is an ideal way to explore your emotions. Indeed, you may even find that over time, you make friends with your anger, sadness, or fear. The best way to deal with a sudden rush of emotion is to try to locate where you feel the emotion in your body. Focus on that spot, and breathe into it. Gradually the emotion will dissipate. If the emotion returns, again locate the area in your body, and breathe into it.
Contemplating Images
Choose any image that appeals to you from How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci (Read Michael Gelb’s suggestion, “Meditate on Mona,” on page 157 of the book).
Prop the book up where you can see it, then sit with your spine straight and contemplate the image for five minutes. Don’t stare; soften your gaze. Use the image as you use your breath: when thoughts intrude, bring your gaze back to the image.
Share Your Thoughts
As you contemplate and meditate, you’ll find that you almost always have an interesting insight either during a meditation period or shortly afterward. Record your insights in your notebook.
As you practiced the exercises, what did you learn? Come to the Message Board and share your insights with your fellow students.
Moving Forward
Have you started your journal? Great! Keep it handy, because in Lesson 3, you’ll begin to explore Dimostrazione, the way to test and develop your knowledge via your experiences. Be sure to read the section on Dimostrazione, beginning on page 77 of How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci. You’ll see where and how Leonardo developed his habits of dimostrazione and experimentation, and it should inspire you to do likewise.
Don’t forget to do the quiz and the assignment for this week. You’ll find that both of them help you weave all the work you’re doing into your everyday consciousness.
Assignment : Curiosità: Journal 100 Questions
As you work through this course, your journal will become your most important Leonardo-inspired tool. Read the Curiosità: Application and Exercises section starting on page 57 of How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci, and start your journal today if you haven’t already.
Allow yourself plenty of time to complete the list of 100 questions without interruption. If time doesn’t permit you to list the 10 questions you’d like to work on in the next month, come back at some other time during the next week to do it.
Enjoy the exercises! You’re on your way to discovery.
