Skip to content
quotesby

About this quote

What does it mean?
Creativity relies on not knowing everything and being open to unexpected moments.
In plain terms
Creativity needs mystery and surprise to flourish.
What can you take from it?
Embrace uncertainty and surprise to fuel your creative process.

Where it applies

  • artistic creation
  • problem solving
  • writing

Putting it to work

  • leave space for exploration
  • welcome unexpected ideas
  • avoid over planning

Questions to consider

  • When did surprise last spark an idea?
  • How comfortable are you with not knowing?

Another view

Some structured fields require precise knowledge rather than mystery.

More from Julia Cameron

  1. Each of us has an inner dream that we can unfold if we will just have the courage to admit what it is. And the faith to trust our own admission. The admitting …

    Permalink to quote #14
  2. Nothing dies harder than a bad idea.

    Permalink to quote #16
  3. Creativity - like human life itself - begins in darkness.

    Permalink to quote #13

Related quotes

  1. Now, as discord is allowable, and even necessarily opposed to concord, why may not noise, or a seeming jargon, be opposed to fixed sounds and harmonical propor…

    Charles BurneyCharles Burney quote #2
  2. Make it new!

    Ezra PoundEzra Pound quote #4
  3. These creators, makers of the new, can never become obsolete, for in the arts there is no correct answer. The story of discoverers could be told in simple chro…

    Daniel J. BoorstinDaniel J. Boorstin quote #4