Curiosità One Hundred Questions Exercise

Keep a Journal or “Notebook”
(From Michael J. Gelb’s How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci)


Leonardo da Vinci carried a notebook with him at all times so he could jot down ideas, impressions, and observations as they occurred. They contained jokes and fables, the observations and thoughts of scholars he admired, personal financial records, letters, reflections on domestic problems, philosophical musings and prophecies, plans for inventions, and treatises on anatomy, botany, geology, flight, water, and painting.

You can, like Leonardo, facilitate Curiosità (an insatiably curious approach to life and an unrelenting quest for continuous learning) by keeping such a notebook or journal. The important thing is to carry it with you everywhere and write in it regularly. Supplement your notebook with scrapbooks or files on diverse areas of interest. Cut out and collect newspaper and magazine articles, or download information from the internet, on any subject you fancy – science, art, music, film, food, health, social justice…

As Leonardo did, use your notebook to record your questions, observations, insights, jokes, dreams, and musings (mirror writing is optional!)

Busy lives and school responsibilities tend to drive us toward hard conclusions and measurable results, but the exploratory, free-flowing, unfinished, nonjudgmental practice of keeping a Da Vincian notebook encourages freedom of thought and expansion of perspective. In the manner of the maestro, don’t worry about order and logical flow, just record!

First journal/notebook exercise:

Make a list of a hundred questions that are important to you. Your list can include any kind of question as long as it’s something you deem significant: anything from “How can I make some money?” or “How can I have more fun?” to “What is the meaning and purpose of my existence?” and “How can I best serve our world?”

Do the entire list in one sitting. Write quickly; don’t worry about spelling, grammar, or repeating the same question in different words (recurring questions will alert you to emerging themes.) And, in the latter part of the second half of the list you are likely to discover unexpected but profound material.

When you have finished, if you have enough energy (or at another time if you don’t) read through your list and highlight the themes that emerge. Consider the emerging themes without judging them. Are most of your questions about relationships? School? Fun? Money? The meaning of life?