Follow Your Curiosities
The phrase on loop in my head for the past year has been this: Follow Your Curiosities. It’s my permission to myself to go with the flow and see where it leads. You don’t need to know the destination to start the journey.
This year has lead me to a calling and a career that is so much more fulfilling than I’ve ever had before. I absolutely LOVE what I do. Talking with a friend about work the other week, she commented that I radiated joy whenever I was talking about my job, and I wasn’t surprised to hear it. I feel like the luckiest person in the world that I get to make art and create what I want to create for my job. It’s kind of unbelievable, really.
I wouldn’t be here if I hadn’t trusted myself to chase it. I’ve had to get pretty uncomfortable to make progress and push through obstacles and get to a place where I am confident in the path I’ve chosen. But all along it still felt right. I knew I was following a thread that genuinely interested me, that clicked with the way my brain works, and so I kept on going.
This phrase is also what I tell myself when I am looking for inspiration and looking to make unique work that feels like me. Follow your curiosities. The most surefire way to make something that I am passionate about is to start with my genuine interest and let it blossom from there.
As a parent, this is also what I want to encourage in my children. Find what interested you and follow the thread. Discover something that will light you up because it comes from a place of curiosity deep within you. I strive to model this approach to life in my daily action, and foster it in them when I find the opportunity. (Currently it’s all things train-related for the 4 year old and butterflies and insects for the 2 years old).
For me, right at this moment, it’s writing. And thinking about things having to do with creativity, how to cultivate it, and how to live a life of joy. And then writing about those thoughts. I’m going to follow this thread and see where it leads, and I’ll be sharing those thoughts here in my studio log. Follow along to see my thought process alongside my growing creative practice.
So whether it’s professional, personal or creative, I hope you find something that intrigues you and that you dive in. Don’t worry about hitting the bottom. You never will if it’s something you’re truly curious about and willing to go deep with.