Curiosity is a Doorway

In my Wild Writing Teacher Training, my incredible instructor Laurie Wagner teaches us to say “yes” to what is arising. When we write, never letting our pen leave the page, we are told to allow whatever comes up. This can sometimes be strange, or scary or unexpected. But we are instructed to let it happen. To keep going. To get curious. We take out our metaphorical shovel and dig. We let our thoughts unravel on the page and trust that it leads us somewhere good, somewhere necessary. Wild writing is a doorway into our unconscious, our deep thoughts, things we may not want to or be able to explore on a regular day.

What if we could welcome the unknown in the same way outside of a writing practice? Bring the same curiosity to our partner’s critique, a health diagnosis, a child’s concerning behavior, a boss’s feedback?

Curiosity makes life more interesting and less scary.

I went to a beautiful retreat this past weekend where we explored our “edge”. The women in attendance were deeply curious about their own journey as well as the journeys of the other women in the room. After only 1.5 hours we knew each other in a way that is hard to do in real life. The program was lead by the wonderful Katrina Busselle and she lead with questions. We were meant to get curious. What are we ready to do in our life? What are we not ready to do? And everything in between. There was so much permission. So much welcoming—from the moment we walked into her inviting home-that we could invite in aspects of ourselves that we usually avoid. We said yes to what arose in both ourselves and others. We abandoned judgement and got curious.

Let curiosity be your compass. When something is interesting to you, notice. Follow the crumbs.

When you are not sure who to date next, where to live next, where to work next, what to do next, follow your curiosity. Then get out your metaphorical shovel and dig. Have faith that it will lead you where you need to go.