We were all creative as kids. A handprint becomes a Thanksgiving turkey. A cardboard box is a school bus, then a fort, then a pirate ship. We’re born with incredible imaginations and the ability to generate abstract and ingenious ideas. As children, we were all creative visionaries.

What happened to us?

As we grow up, we lose our confidence. Why? We compare ourselves to others… we get negative feedback… we start to criticize and doubt ourselves. We’re given restrictive work and life deadlines, and unrealistic expectations. We get older and become jaded. We forget how much fun it can be to create.

I’ve spent years leading design thinking workshops around the world, teaching teams to find meaningful problems, then generate innovative solutions. Without fail, by the end of a brief workshop, people have suspended disbelief and are fully along for the ride. Executives are wearing coffee cups on their faces to “test” a VR headset. Meeting room chairs get rearranged, and suddenly we’re all on an airplane giving feedback on a new imaginary in-flight system. The curiosity of childhood has returned, and everyone in the room is buzzing with their newly (re)found creativity.

As each workshop draws to a close, I inevitably hear the same comments: “This was only a few days! I have so much more to learn.” The anxiety and self-doubt immediately start creeping back in.

Curio.us was create to acknowledge that creativity is a journey, not a destination. The more we expose ourselves to new ideas, new hands-on experiences, and challenges outside our comfort zones, the more creative we all become. Art, music, storytelling, and other creative pursuits help us explore and solve problems from a completely different point of view.

The courses at Curio.us will help you continue to tap into the innate creativity within you, in new ways that amplify and enrich your ability to innovate in all other aspects of your life.

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Emily Holmes
Visual artist, musician, design thinker
Founder of Curio.us