Curiosity First

I've been keeping a "Nudges from Nature" journal for a while. When I went into my folder this morning to see the date of my first entry, I was surprised to see it dated back to May 8, 2020. So I'm coming up on three years.

I've been keeping it inconsistently. It's been an easy pleasure. I had received a nice new writing pen from my wife, and I was up early, before the sun, writing my morning pages -- three pages of stream-of-consciousness writing ala Julia Cameron and The Artist's Way. As the sun came up over the ridge behind my house, its first rays hit my pen and cast an unbelievably long shadow across the table. It's beauty made an immediate impression on me, how the silver casing of my pen came to life, and of the love and care that was behind the gift.

So, I wrote about it, and whenever inspiration strikes, whenever I get a nudge from nature, whenever an unsolicited thought of a certain magnitude of interest pops into my head, I go ahead and write it down.

Recently, I made the commitment to write in the spirit of nudges of nature every day, or more accurately every weekday. But, it became clear after the first weekend that that gap didn't feel write, so my second weekend in I'm writing the full seven days.

I found myself drifting off to sleep last night, wondering what I might write about. Ideas came to me. This morning, I found myself immediately jumping to topics upon waking. Over the past few days, I've opened up new blog drafts and just jotted down titles while as they came to me.

But this isn't what I want to do with this publication. I don't want to plan it. I don't want to have it all lined up and plotted out and have it become another thing on the list of things to do.

So this morning, I had another thought. What if I didn't choose the topic until I sat down in my chair. And so, I suddenly went from planning mode, to curiosity mode, and it was beautiful and wonderful. 

What will I write? What will "Nudges from Nature" be about this morning? An intense curiosity struck me. I could feel it in my body. And it was wonderful. I will wake up each morning, do my meditation routine, and have this to look forward to: What topic will come to me when I sit into the chair and start typing?




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