I enjoyed the Le Guin quote... until I searched for its source and found her even better blog post where she demolishes it, 'The Inner Child and the Nude Politician' [0]. Every once in awhile I'm reminded that she blogged and that I owe it to myself to read her.
Thanks for the correction and fantastic resource. I still resonate with the less-reductive sentiment of the quote; among friends in fields with little relation to their personal interests, I'm (un?)fortunate to have willed my way from childhood robot toys into a PhD in robotics. That childlike creativity is a useful asset to get unstuck.
It hurt me a little bit to read what she had to say, but I don't think she detracts from your sentiment at all. Retaining a childlike playfulness has helped me through career, marriage, parenting, a PhD (in roughly that order.) I joke that we're like onions, simply adding a new layer every year, getting to keep who we were before.
Here are a couple of Einstein quotes on the matter:
“People like you and me, though mortal, of course, like everyone else, do not grow old no matter how long we live. What I mean is that we never cease to stand like curious children before the great Mystery into which we are born.” – Albert Einstein
“There is, after all, something eternal that lies beyond the reach of the hand of fate and of all human delusions. And such eternals lie closer to an older person than to a younger one who oscillates between fear and hope. For us, there remains the privilege of experiencing beauty and truth in their purest forms.” – Albert Einstein
She didn't say that apparently [1]. However, as a creative person, the sentiment resonates with me. There is definitely an element of child-like play to the creative process.
