The Quarantine Chronicles: Day 19

Hello, Dear One.

So glad you are here.

I've been reading Brené Brown’s book, Rising Strong, and was inspired by this:

“Einstein said, “The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existence.” Curiosity’s reason for existing is not simply to be a tool used in acquiring knowledge; it reminds us that we’re alive. Researchers are finding evidence that curiosity is correlated with creativity, intelligence, improved learning and memory, and problem solving.

There is a profound relationship —a love affair, really — between curiosity and wholeheartedness. How do we come to those aha moments if we’re not willing to explore and ask questions? New information won’t transform our thinking, much less our lives, if it simply lands at our feet. For experiences and information to be integrated into our lives as true awareness, they have to be received with open hands, inquisitive minds, and wondering hearts.

A critical piece of my wholehearted journey has been moving from judgment to curiosity about my own path. Poet and writer William Plomer wrote, “Creativity is the power to connect the seemingly unconnected.” Connecting the dots of our lives, especially the ones we’d rather erase or skip over, requires equal parts self-love and curiosity: How do all of these experiences come together to make up who I am?”

She goes on to talk about how she had realized that curiosity has led her to believe that nothing is wasted and has given her the ability to look back at her life and understand how dropping out of school, hitchhiking across Europe, bartending and waiting tables, doing the things that might not seem as beneficial or significant, taught her as much about empathy as her career in social work, research and the things that might look good on a resume have.

She says, “I used to look back at those far-flung dots as mistakes and wasted time, but allowing myself to be curious about who I am and how everything fits together changed that. As difficult and dark as some of those times were, they all connect to form the real me, the integrated and whole me.”

So…my question to you today is, can you get curious with yourself and be vulnerable and courageous enough to ask yourself the question…”How could this Quarantine time actually be valuable in my life? In my life story? In my identity or character? In my relationships? How could it be valuable for my creativity?”

You might not be able to see it yet, and that is okay. Sometimes the ability to connect the dots takes time. But asking the questions is still worth doing, and the answers that come might surprise you.

True curiosity, I believe, is also stepping outside of judgment. Our perceptions of what is good or bad, valuable, productive, worthy...what are they really based on?

Asking powerful questions can take us to surprisingly refreshing new territory. And as Brené so beautifully suggested, it can remind us that we're alive.

There is so much love for you here,

JennyRebecca