Let’s Not Forget To Ask Questions

Turning what is seemingly mundane into your next creative work.Photo by Júnior Ferreira on Unsplash

There is a lot going on in our everyday lives.

Like… a lot.

Sure, you could have plenty of important events or projects or whatever significant thing it is going on in your life. But most of us have many little things going on everyday, as well.

Maybe you had a casual conversation with a friend, or you completed some tasks for work, or you decided to do some chores — or maybe you just watched a couple episodes of that TV series you’re not a fan of but for some reason are still watching.

My point is that there are many things going on during a day, and much of it goes unthought of because of how common or routine it is — why is that?

Why do we let so much of our day go by without reflection, when there is possibly a great deal of value to it?

As creatives, we are always trying to find topics or ideas to express through our work — sometimes this can come very smoothly and naturally, but other times it’s a bit more difficult. Perhaps you are stuck, or you feel as if you have completely ran out of inspiration… You try to construct these extravagant and out of the box ideas, when, in reality, the inspiration you have been pursuing has been with you all along!

By reflecting upon our daily experiences and our observations, we can discover ideas and concepts that are applicable and useful in many aspects of our lives. For instance, I wrote a piece about adopting an “agree to disagree” mindset. You know how I came up with that? I had a conversation with a friend about work we both had to get done — and this was quite a regular conversation we would have with each other — however, I found myself getting irritated because I did not agree with their thoughts on productivity. I wasn’t furious or feel-like-punching-a-wall type of mad, but I didn’t agree with their opinions.

Photo by Gift Habeshaw on Unsplash

Of course, disagreement is common in our everyday lives, and it does not always lead to serious disputes. We often times ignore or forget about the little disagreements because they don’t seem to matter — but what if there was something to learn from it?

I’m not saying that you should bring this up and start a fight with the other person, but it could be something to consider and reflect upon. That’s what I did with the conversations I had with my friend, and it led me to some enlightening revelations about myself and my interactions with others — and hence, it gave me something to write about.

How do we reflect upon our experiences/observations, though? Well, the most important thing is to simply think and ask questions. Here are some guiding questions that you can consider:

What happened in this situation?Why did this situation occur?How do I feel about this? Why do I feel this way, or why don’t I feel a certain way?Why did I or someone else take these actions?Were there any mistakes made, either on my or another person’s part?What can I learn from this?

There are many ways that you can reflect upon the events in your life. And who knows, maybe the ideas and concepts that you discover through this process might become the basis of your next creative work…

Whether or not you use this as inspiration for your works and creative endeavors, it’s still worth it to question the mundane, habitual, or supposedly insignificant things in our lives — by questioning and reflecting upon our daily experiences and observations, we are able to gain a deeper knowledge and understanding of ourselves, our society, and the world we live in.

More by marz20k in C.R.Y

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Let’s Not Forget To Ask Questions was originally published in C.R.Y on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.