Curiosity

At a weekend retreat a few years ago, 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” 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, but I no longer see it as the sole culprit in my challenges to complete projects.

Prompt: 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?

This post first appeared on my Substack publication.