I’m a big fan of creative hobbies, topical rabbit holes, and other leisurely activities, which is why I appreciated Constance Grady’s recent Vox story on making these pursuits less about routines and goals and productivity and more about indulgence. If you’re scrolling endlessly, looking to feel something, consider putting down your phone and redirecting that energy toward the things that naturally spark curiosity in you.
“Embracing curiosity means finding ways to play with art and ideas, as if they’re clay, instead of chipping away at them, as if they’re solid stone,” Constance writes. Turn toward things that have the potential to surprise you, and specifically seek out topics you are uncertain about, but that you’re compelled — perhaps inexplicably — to know more about. “This mystery doesn’t have to be about science or philosophy,” Constance says. “It could be about what happens to a character in a particular thriller, or how to capture a likeness in charcoal, or what a certain part of your city looks like. The point is that it should be the kind of question that you can’t let go of.”
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—Rachel Wilkerson Miller, Senior Editor
