Curiosity
Day 9 of 31: 200 Words-a-Day Challenge
Welcome, first-timers and returners, to the 200-word challenge, which is intended to help each of us (re)cultivate a writing habit, open our creativity, foster engagement and personal growth, and receive inspiration from what’s shared in this supportive community.
My 200+ words are below, along with a prompt for you… if you need it; feel free to write about something else. Just Write.
Curiosity
At a weekend retreat last year, I participated in a workshop on wealth and abundance. As an activity to explore our mindset around money, the facilitator provided a list of 25+ phrases for all of us to complete. One phrase was: “The reason I don’t have a lot of money right now is…” I completed the sentence by writing “my curiosity gets me off track.”
When we were asked to read two or three of our completed sentences aloud, I avoided that one. In the moment, it felt like an embarrassment, at best. At worst, like a confession of my inability to complete projects and be a successful writer.
That sentence haunted me the next few nights. I admonished myself for the hours, days wasted on “research” (see Day 8) instead of finishing my novel.
One of the women attending the retreat was an intuitive who offered readings to those who wanted them. Mine was scheduled for Sunday, right before our departure. She invited me outside on the deck for privacy, pulled two chairs together, and sat. Before my butt was in the other chair, she said, matter-of-factly, “Your curiosity is your treasure trove.”
I nearly fell off the deck.
Keep in mind, until that weekend, this woman and I were strangers, and she had no idea what I’d written on that mindset worksheet.
Her single proclamation to me—bursting with possibility and the promise of plenty—has transformed my relationship with my curiosity. I still struggle to rein it in sometimes (again, see Day 8), but I no longer see it as the sole culprit in my challenges to complete projects.
Your Prompt / Day 9 of 31
What is your relationship with your curiosity? Do you cultivate it or squelch it? What is one thing you’ve been curious about but have never looked into or explored? Why not? Could you satisfy your curiosity about it today?
I invite you to share what you write (whether in response to the prompt or something else entirely) in the comments under this post or on your own stack; a tag would be nice, too.
Thanks for joining me in this challenge! Please invite your friends.