The Best Question Ever Asked

It’s one of the most intelligent and profoundly interesting questions ever posed.

It seems simple, but is entirely full of excitement, mystery and uncertainty. What if… we could fly to the moon? What if… the world wasn’t flat after all? What if… we could make reproductions of art using a mirror and some silver and iodine? The examples abound. These two little words have led to nearly every scientific, technological and creative progression we enjoy today!

Remarkably, if someone hadn’t asked “what if…”,  we’d still be dining on sabretooth tiger tartare around a cold, fireless pit. Take that sad scene, add some “What if… we rub some sticks together for a really long time for no reason?” and suddenly we have fire! Voila! Flash forward thousands of years, and we have the next great invention: sliced bread. Wow! How do we harness this potential energy for creative use?

First of all, have you ever sat around with a bunch of little kids? They’re geniuses. They’re not inhibited by the limitations of knowledge about time, space, rationality, societal expectations or budgets. They can think freely as they explore the world around them. Sure, not all their questions lead to brilliant results. “What if I lick a battery?” – not so much (try it, I DARE you). But to their credit, they know how to ask, “What if…?”. “What if… I dig a hole really deep, will I reach hell?” “What if… I swallow orange seeds, will I grow an orange tree?” “What if… we barked and dogs talked?” “What if… we are living inside a giant potato?” As an adult, it’s easy to overlook the brilliance in these nonsensical utterances. But if you think about it, these are awesome questions in disguise – and can lead to amazing genius when applied creatively to a problem. Or, at least, make some gnarly ads or good twitter topics. (#ShizMyFriendsKidSays?)

As adults, having trudged through the halls of higher education and the schools of hard knocks, we’ve nearly lost the ability to ask this question. At the first inkling of reckless thinking and unrestrained creativity, an army of left-brained deputies race out to arrest every rogue thought or notion. And what amazes me is how we take this oppression from ourselves, day after day!

What if… we didn’t?

What if we broke away from the self-imposed tyranny and allowed our minds an afternoon at a fanciful playground full of ridiculous ideas, explored to the farthest possible outcome?

As creatives, it’s imperative to re-train our selves to stop thinking! You read correctly. Stop it right meow! (Right after you read this blog). Let’s cling instead to the mushroom clouds of brilliance that appear when we mentally relax and let our cfibers have their fun. It’s acceptable – no, encouraged – that we constantly ask ourselves “What if…?” …and then put the deputies in prison while our creative mind creaks open the hatch door to freedom.

What if…? Dare I say, it’s the best question you can ask.