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Not knowing is the essence of creativity

ByKim Hermanson

Not knowing is the essence of creativity.

I once heard the celebrated filmmaker David Lynch interviewed on NPR’s Fresh Air. Host Terry Gross asked Lynch something about what he does when he makes a movie.

Lynch responded that when he makes a movie, he “doesn’t really know” what he’s doing.

This statement has always stayed with me. When the amazing David Lynch makes a movie, he doesn’t really know what he’s doing.

And yet his movies are fantastic.

Perhaps… creative brilliance requires that we “not know.”

Perhaps… not having any idea what we’re doing can work out better than we can imagine.

Perhaps… when we don’t know what we’re doing, we’re actually at our best.

Perhaps…when we don’t know what we’re doing, we’re hooked up to a greater wisdom.

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