The author Elizabeth Gilbert, in a talk extolling the benefits of “the curiosity-driven life,”81 shares a wonderful analogy involving jackhammers and hummingbirds. According to Gilbert, people who behave like jackhammers focus obsessively on one thing, drilling deeper and deeper. Those who are more like hummingbirds follow their curiosity as they “move from tree to tree, from flower to flower … trying this, trying that.” So: Should a creative person be more like a hummingbird or a jackhammer? It probably depends what stage you’re at in your work. Curiosity can be a wonderful source of creative
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