Creative or Curious - which
comes first?

We love creativity!

At Meee HQ, we love creativity. Creative thinking and expression is important as it has a hugely  beneficial impact on the way we think, act and feel. It helps us invent, problem-solve, create and communicate in new ways. 

Many people think that being creative means to be able to paint amazing pictures, or write moving poems, or compose and play heart stopping music. But this isn't the case at all. There are many ways to be creative, and you don't need to be an expert. The most important thing is that you enjoy it. 

Characteristically curious

We can't talk about creativity without also talking about curiosity. Here's a question for you: do you become creative by being curious, or do you become curious by being creative?

There is no doubt that the two go hand in hand. General curiosity leads to more information seeking and obtaining, which in turns leads to more motivation and more imagination. Those who ask more questions and seek more answers generally have the most intuitive brains and are not only able to come up with the most creative ideas, but are also great at problem-solving. 

For decades, self-made Hollywood mogul,
Brian Grazer, scheduled a weekly 'curiosity conversation' with an accomplished stranger.
From scientists to spies, adventurers to business leaders, he met with anyone willing to answer
his questions for a few hours. These informal discussions sparked the creative inspiration behind many of Grazer's movies and TV shows.

Here at Meee, we think about curiosity A LOT. People who ask the right questions and seek the answers go on to exceed their potential and live happier lives. But what makes those people curious? How can you expand your curiosity? We’ve accumulated research from our programmes and come up with our top 5 characteristics of curious people - and, yes, it features creativity!

More curious conversations

Paula and Sid recently exhibited and spoke at the PA Show 2022 at the ExCel in London. It was wonderful to finally be at an 'in-person' event again and to meet people we had only ever met virtually. 

At Meee we believe in the wonder of being open to new opportunities, connection and celebrating others to really be able to make a difference in the world. Attending The PA Show 2022 brought us all of this - we met incredible people, made amazing connections for future collaboration opportunities, and watched as others achieved great things. 

Sid created ‘The Magic Behind The Magic -
The curious incident of magical people’ booklet, especially for the PA Show. One of the magical people featured in it is Sir John Foster Wilson CBE, who was blinded at the age of 12 by an explosion during a school chemistry lesson. After university, Wilson started a nine-month tour of Africa and the Middle East. He was shocked at the scale of blindness and the conditions blind people were living in there. He came back to the UK and set up the organisation that would eventually become Sightsavers International. 

One of the people who visited the Meee stand and spoke with us was, serendipitously, his great nephew, who was so proud to see his great uncle featured and took copies back for his family. Lady Wilson continues to advocate for people with visual impairments and other disabilities, and remains closely involved in Sightsavers’ work in her role as vice president. We hope to interview her in a future Meee Podcast. 

You never know where a curious conversation will take you!

Digging deep

What happens, though, if you feel your creativity has deserted you? What about those times (and there will always be those times) when you feel like giving up? What do you do that enables you to dig deep and keep digging until you find inspiration and reignite your curiosity?

We all experience these times. Even Tim Cook, CEO of Apple. Cook, who reportedly 'questions everything', gets up before 4am every day, reads customer comments, and then hits the gym to help reduce stress. Although little is publicly shared about his personal life, we know that he enjoys spending time outdoors, often hiking and riding his bicycle in his free time.  

Sid does the same. He finds being outdoors and riding his bicycle therapeutic in keeping anxiety and managing levels of stress. Recently he didn't exercise for a few days and started to feel quite unwell. When he recognised this and thought about what had changed, he realised he needed to get back outside exercising. With brighter weather landing, he's been back on the bike and everything has shifted. 

What do you do when you need to dig deep?

Threading instead of digging

Steph, from the Meee Team, recently shared with us how she relaxes and practices being mindful. 

Up until 2020 she had never picked up a needle, but after being diagnosed with POTS (Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome) and during the first lockdown, she wanted a new activity to keep her occupied, mindful and relaxed. She started to do 'Thread Journaling' which has been incredibly beneficial.

Every day, she stitches one icon to represent that day, and now has two years worth of daily reflections up on her living room wall. She uses everything from beads and sequins to scraps of thread, and tries to use recycled materials where she can.

Steph says, "I like how doing the thread journal keeps me accountable, gives me a focus, and helps me to switch off in an evening".

We love this! What do you do to keep stress manageable and help you switch off?