Two Things That Can Change Your World

Finding Silence & Staying Curious

“If you can let go of passion and follow your curiosity, your curiosity just might lead you to your passion.” Elizabeth Gilbert

As children, we were all explorers, letting curiosity guide us with play, joy and expression. As we get older, we became bounded by self-imposed or societal imposed pressures to be a certain way or to do a certain thing, and before long, you find yourself treading on a familiar but unfulfilled path.

I want to encourage you to be guided by your curiosity and keep exploring what brings you joy. So often, we are so guilty or ashamed of having too many passions, interests and feel like we need to tie ourselves down to one thing or ‘profession’. My world definitely opened up when I simply allowed myself to explore and give attention to the things I was truly curious about.

Sometimes we might think, ‘Is it even worth it?’ ‘Will it lead me somewhere?’ Imagine if the world greatest inventors think like that, will we have any new ideas or innovations in the world?

“I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious.” — Albert Einstein

I think sometimes we overcomplicate the path of finding passion and purpose. We outsource it to the external looking for answers or signs like ‘this is it’, but truly, it’s about finding the space and silence to reflect on your journey and tuning in to your inner wisdom with complete trust that it will guide you to the next steps. Like many, I struggled with trusting myself and my decisions at times, but it takes practice when we’ve been on a long journey of conditioning and unlearning the ‘pleasing’ mindset.

There’ll be times where what you’re exploring might not seem to make sense or fit with what you had in mind, but keep holding on to the threads of curiosity and I promise you it will lead you somewhere! I also like to remind myself of growth and comfort zones, where if you are not feeling at least a bit uncomfortable, you are not growing.

My own journey of exploring wellness led me to mindfulness and meditation, and I never gave it much thought to what I will do with it, as I was just curious to learn more. At times I struggled to find a space to encompass the whole of myself and for my explorations and to make sense. Creativity was also a large part of who I am, and I began integrating mindfulness practices into it and continued to explore these intersections through journaling and writing.

I realised in moments of silence that I was as much of a self-starter and ‘self-stopper’. Every time I got fired up with an idea, I often then got in my own way with my self-doubts. But with the practice of finding silence and staying curious, I always found my way back to the heart of what I’m doing.

So what fires your heart up and can you let it guide your way?

If you’ve enjoyed this piece and would like to read more on creativity, mindfulness and purpose, here are some of my other work: