The Creative Benefit of Complete Ignorance

The Book of Doing offers a collection of ideas and activities that encourage you to use your life as a canvas and explore your creativity through everything you do-to create and make, to explore and experiment, to play and build, to paint and cook-to do.

Despite the joy we gained from these pursuits, in our adult lives, we’ve left them behind-they’re too frivolous, we’re too busy or too old, and there’s too much “real” work to do. It’s time to change this mind-set. It’s time to rediscover the things you love to do, because they energize, center, and connect you with the world in a meaningful and positive way.

Research is an important stage in the creative process, though it can also hinder creativity

Your inexperience is an asset and will allow you to think in original and unconventional ways. Accept your lack of knowledge and use it as your asset. I know a famous violinist that told me that he can’t compose because he knows too many pieces so when he starts thinking of a note, an existing piece immediately comes to mind. Just starting out, one of your greatest strengths is not knowing how things are suppose to be. You can compose freely because your mind isn’t cluttered with too many pieces and you don’t take for granted the way things are. The only way you know how to do things are your own way.

Easier to begin a project if you aren’t intimidated by the amount of work involved

People told me that Black Swan was an artistic risk, a scary challenge to try and portray a professional ballet dancer. But it didn’t feel like courage or daring that drew me to it. I was so oblivious to my own limits that I did things that I was woefully unprepared to do. So the very inexperience that in college that made me feel insecure and made me want to play by other’s rules, now was making me actually take risks that I didn’t even realize were risks.

Complement it with 10 Laws of doing