What is philosophy, and what does it mean to be a philosopher?

To me philosophy isn't a subject of study. Rather, philosophy is, at its core, a
state of curiosity, and philosophical inquiry is the process of intelligently
questioning and critically examining these curiosities. Often we never find full
answers to many of our questions, but that isn't the point. The act of
philosophical inquiry to me is almost like jazz improvisation. We play off of
fragments, and the goal is to let things unfold naturally as they do, not with
the goal of composing a full completed piece, but to see which creative avenues
we might have never thought of exploring. It is the avenues, and not the
answers, that make philosophical thinking worthwhile.

Anyone can be a philosopher as long as they foster a creative and curious
mindset via critical thinking and examining of core questions. The key is to
keep a sense of wonder. I think that one ideal, and perhaps extreme, example of
the traits needed to make a great philosopher, is the creative mindset of
Leonardo da Vinci. Although he wasn't really known to explore all of the classic
questions of philosoophy, he had the kind of curious sense of wonder needed to
foster philosophical thinking. He would tinker with his ideas and inventions,
and even when they failed, he would learn a lot from his mistakes. The goal
wasn't to find answers to all of his questions, but the goal was to explore his
curiosities to see what he could come up with. A philosopher is very much like
this, and we often explore for the sake of exploring. We all have the ability to
foster the same sense of curiosity and wonder as someone like da Vinci. All that
is required is that we stay curious and keep asking questions.