The Year of Wonder: a fable
QD #63 - Will you embark on a Creative Quest in 2025?
Dear Questers,
Happy New Year everybody! I hope you managed a restorative break and feel somewhat ready for another shimmy around the sun.
I have to say that January is right up there with my favourite months. It’s a magic time of year. In a couple of weeks time there will be wave of posts how about we’re in the 20th week of January and it feels like it’s going on forever.
Which is precisely why I like January so much. Time and Space are two of our most essential creative resources and we rarely feel we have enough of them. So savour this long, stretchy, abyss of a month where nobody wants to make plans!
Indulge in some dillydallying, some mosying about, making plans with yourself. I certainly shall be!
Want explore new creative pathways in 2025?
Join our upcoming Quest. It kicks off 21st Jan!
My Year of Wonder: a fable
Every year at this time, I share the story of rediscovering my creativity - because nine (!) years on it still seems to resonate with people. It’s also the origin story of how Creative Quests came to be.
As the years roll by, this magical year I experienced begins to feel more and more like a fable. A moral story about a boy who set out on a Quest to find something dear to him that he’d lost.
So, this year… I share my story in fable-form. Hope you enjoy as much as I did making it.
In a bustling grey city lived a boy named Sam who felt like he had lost his magic.
Not the kind of magic that makes rabbits appear from hats, but the kind that makes ordinary days feel extraordinary. You see, Sam used to spend hours in his dressing up box, turning melodic ideas into songs, and creating things because it made him feel like him. But lately, he'd been too busy for magic, whilst battling his inbox, a never-ending to do list, and scrolling through other peoples lives on a powerful, rectangular black tablet.
One cold January morning, while everyone else was making regular New Year's resolutions about going to the gym and practicing self care. Sam made a different kind of promise to himself in an effort to relocate the magic he’d lost…
"What if, I spent one year learning about what makes other people's eyes light up? Each month exploring a different way human’s express themselves…”
This intriguing idea filled Sam with a sensation he had not felt for many years. A very particular flavour of fear you feel when you’re about to take a leap into the unknown.
And so began The Year of Wonder.
Each month he tried his hardest to be a curious beginner, prioritising learning and play over mastery and perfection.
🕊️ In January, Sam learned to fold paper into delicate cranes that fluttered across his bedroom ceiling.
🛫 February found him studying the flight patterns of birds in the park and making paper airplanes with colleagues on lunch breaks.
🖍️ In March, he took pen to paper and drew everything his eyes could see.
🍜 April brought adventures in the kitchen, where Sam discovered that cooking is a form of tasty meditation.
🤸 In May, he made his body move in ways he never thought possible. Jumping, dancing and climbing wherever he went.
🌈 June exploded with colours as he painted his world in rainbow hues.
🇪🇺 As Summer arrived, in July Sam learned about the traditions and cultures of people around Europe.
📖 August saw him creating flip-books that made stick figures dance across pages.
⚡️ In September, he built a lightning bolt and hundreds flocked to leave tributes to their everyday heroes at it.
📸 October taught him to capture moments with his uncle’s old camera and practice looking at the world carefully.
🎵 November filled his notebook with songs about greek goddesses and the secrets of poets.
🗣️ By December, Sam realised something profound had shifted. His calendar was still full, but now it was packed with possibility instead of obligation. He spent his final month learning about the power of stories - so he could tell his, long into the future.
As the clock struck midnight on New Year's Eve a year later, Sam felt like he had been on a round the world trip, without leaving the bustling city he called home.
At each new monthly destination, different people’s passions became a window through which Sam could see the world differently. Their eyes would light up as they shared their knowledge. In their enthusiasm, he began to recognise something of his younger self – that spark he thought he'd lost. Their wonder, a secret little door to an alternate universe that somehow led him back to his own magic.
The Year of Wonder taught Sam that creativity wasn't a talent you possessed or lost – it was a conversation you had with the world around you. It lived in the way you chose to see things, in the questions you dared to ask, in the connections you made with people.
Sam's world was reanimated with colour and possibility. Whenever he felt the grey days creeping back… he knew that all he needed to do was take a leap of faith into the creative unknown and he would discover new parts of himself all over again.
If you like the sound of your own Year of Wonder… come and join us on one (or four!) of our Quests this year!
➪ Jan (kicking off 21st Jan)
➪ April
➪ July
➪ October
A round up of illuminating discoveries from our world…
💅 A Nature Manifesto by Bjork
🗑️ The need for different kinds of adult relationships in kids lives
🛝 The Art of Playground design
🛒 At the supermarket? Why not try some Checkout Poetry
📚 What happens at the intersection of conceptual art and teaching?
✨ How to create space for more magic to come into your life? Aside from Questing of course.
🍁 Designer AKRAAM makes printed clothing out of leaves and it looks incredible!
🧠 How to see the humanity in anyone via Psyche Magazine
Finally…
It’s an ambitious year ahead for CQ:
• We embark on x4 new Quests with x4 brand new themesin our community programme.
• We release our first book!
• Our first place-based Quest comes to life.
I will endeavour to share as much of the learnings and stories along the way as I can. Thanks so much for being here! I hope we can Quest together in 2025.
big love,
Sam x
CQ HQ
🥾 Quest Guide / Founder
📲 @saaamfurness
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