We can’t ever know what’s entirely on the other side of our curiosities, but if we follow a "lit-up" feeling and have a bit of reverence for the process, we may enjoy ourselves and learn a thing or two along the way.
Curiosity is about wondering, asking, and being led by something calling our attention.
In my book OPEN: Big Lessons in Small Retail and Living the Shopkeeper Dream, I talk about Taking Personal Inventory. The clarity gained from Taking Personal Inventory opens the path to asking ourselves better questions. Better questions lead to more awareness and better discernment. The better our discernment, the better our questions and responses become. It’s a beautiful, powerful, and fruitful cycle.
This cycle reinforces curiosity.
We find our energetic spark when we say YES to our curiosities.
And because I love a good acronym:
YES = Your Energetic Spark
From my book:
“The spark inside of us is meant to glow bright, but it needs our energy to make it crackle and pop. Sparked energy helps guide our intuition for the best next steps in our journey. This energy guides us in making big and small decisions, creating boundaries, and building systems that support us and our business. Saying YES is meant to fuel our spark—it’s meant to feel good. If the spark for your business ever fades, or completely burns out, instead of beating yourself up, or giving up, get curious about what you’re feeling and why. Take personal inventory, receive answers, and follow through with your best intentions.”
Applied to work, life, family, community ... YOU ...
... What feels like a positive, energetic spark to you these days? What have you been saying YES to or allowing yourself to feel good about to get to a full-bodied YES experience?
Lately, I’ve been saying YES to learning how to DJ and throwing myself into a crash-training course and competition. YES to hosting a craft night for adults at a local wine bar. And YES to spontaneously driving to the beach on a Saturday morning after dropping my kids off at their activities … and discovering a joyful disco ball installation on the esplanade (bonus points: I learned after the fact that the people behind the disco ball are friends with a DJ classmate).
The above stemmed from energetic sparks that followed internal questions.
Taking Personal Inventory can be a deep dive or a quick check-in. Either way, we pause to get curious about what is or isn't feeling good. What could our next steps be? When we feel a spark, that's our soul saying YES.
My recent YES moments have not only been FUN, but they've also led to unexpected connections and expansions.
For me, the process, the journey, feels the most worthwhile. And as I read in this Atlantic article, this ""diversive curiosity"—the ability to wander into a broad range of interests in a manner that seems to have no rhyme or reason" can be a trait of a late bloomer, as I've always wondered myself to be. I've made peace with that possibility and am learning to embrace and celebrate saying YES to energetic sparks aligned with my present and future self instead of feeling scattered like it's a bad thing.
In a way, it's an attitude of experimentation, which reminds me of this graphic I made over a decade ago for my then-blog as part of a weekly series called Words Worth Repeating:
"All life is an experiment ..." so we might as well follow our curiosities and live the YES out of life.
Here's an oldie but goodie to get our YES energy flowing.
Happy July!
Y-E-S
Y-E-S
Y-E-S
Y-E-S
Yes
If you're ready for a brand new nation
Y-E-S
If you're ready for a new situation, say
Y-E-S
If you're ready we can turn the page
As long as they ain't movin' us to a bigger cage
Oh yes, oh yes
Yes, yes
Yahoo
S
Y-E-S
Y-E-S
If you're tired, of being sick and tired say
Y-E-S
Somebody's here, it's time to start a fire
Come on
Transformation for every heart
Everybody's got to play the part
Oh yes, oh yes
Yes, yesYes, yes, yes, yesYes
Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes
If you're ready for the fun to begin
Say Yes (Yes, yes)
If you're ready for the new kingdom come
Come on
Hey, ah hey
We got the keys we gonna give 'em to you
Only if you're ready for your dreams to come true
Oh yes
Oh yes
Say Yes
Yes
Yes
Source: LyricFind
