If you see a string and pull it, something is bound to come apart.

The same is true of our minds: given a small string of curiosity,
our minds will attempt to unravel it. We are, by our nature,
driven toward resolution, toward seeing what comes next.

Routine is easy and safe. It’s the opposite of string-pulling.
Strings, on the other hand, can be intimidating.
After-all: who knows what will come undone
if we start pulling on random strings?

But to be creative – to invent what’s yet to be invented and
to see what nobody else has see – we must find strings and pull on them.
By finding strings in our lives and pulling on them,
we are led to new perspectives, new insights, and ultimately new ideas.

Strings can be anything of course: nonsensical questions,
new hobbies, bumping into a stranger, opening a new book
to a random page and reading for the sake of seeing what happens.
The best strings are the ones we discover by looking closely at
something that excites us: a curious brush stroke on
an otherwise normal-looking painting, or
a seemingly out-of-place note in a favorite song, or
some energizing words of advice from someone we admire.

Finding strings doesn’t have to be hard.
The thing we must be diligent about is finding the courage
to pull on or pluck them. To dedicate ourselves
to researching them, to asking questions,
to overcoming any potential fear of being uncomfortable and
shouting: “What’s this all about?”

You’ll often find that if you can start
that process – if you can find a string – your brain will naturally pull on it
and ideas or insights will come as a result.

“Oftentimes, we live and we go through life
just accepting things for the way they are.
And oftentimes, all we have to do is make a decision to change.”
– Steve Larosiliere