History celebrates discovery. From the individuals who persevered to the discoveries they made. Helpful. Innovative. Sometimes even changing the course of an entire industry or thinking within a scientific discipline.
But rarely do we hear, in our normal lives, anyone specialize in discovery. In fact, it’s much harder to do in today’s world because of the artificial intelligence algorithms that tailor our digital feeds to things that we have already shown an interest in.
What we were never taught is that, after we leave school, very little new knowledge can be gained without first discovering new things. Coming across a new recipe, a magazine we have never seen, a neighborhood we have never visited, or even an illness that we now have to face for the first time.
Discovery, for it to be effective in our lives, has to create some tension between what we knew and what we now are learning. It is only out of this tension, can we begin to create change in our lives. By thinking and then choosing differently. It is only through different choices and action that change occurs. Not through thought or thinking about it.
For any of this to occur, we need to be open to discovery. Not squashing it by clinging to only things you know and believe are true. It involves a perspective that seeing, hearing or experiencing new things is interesting. Trying to find what is different within what we now are learning.
Creativity comes about when you can take what you discovered and put it together with what you already either know or have experienced in new and novel ways. The act of consciously discovering comes first. Then the connections can occur to find new and creative ways to build your life and solve the problems you face.
If you seek growth and change in your life, first seek to discover new people, places, and things to do and see. The rest of this journey then becomes interesting as you begin to evolve into the person you were meant to be.