Why do I ask this?
And that's really the question, isn't it? A colleague of mine recently asked me a very obvious question, so obvious in fact, that for a moment I wondered why she was asking it.
Then I realized I had never asked myself the question she raised, and was not sure of the answer.
So it got me to thinking about the importance of asking obvious questions at all points during the creative process and at all levels of expertise and experience.
And it's not only asking questions, but it's being open to the answers you discover, or if you are really open, the various possible answers.
We can think of this like a set of Russian dolls, where one's inside the next. We have all seen a young child ask a parent series endless questions, each one followed by another "But why?". Eventually the parent gives up answering with an exasperated "Because I said so!"
And that is exactly the point in our creative process to dig deeper and explore the "and then what?" by answering for ourselves another layer or two of "But why?'.
Now, any questions? I'd love to hear from you.