“Each of us has our unique gifts and expression. We’re here to deliver our gifts.” —Jack Kornfield, No Time Like the Present

There is a theory that when we are drawn to a particular place in this world – a city, a location, some place we have never been physically, yet something continually pulls us from within to go visit, take a trip, hop on a plane or train and check it out, spend time there, explore, breathe the air and feel the weather conditions upon the skin – that a part of our life story exists there, a place where we will find an ingredient for our fulfillment if only we have the courage to trust that tug.

The part of our story that it will provide for our life journey we cannot know. This locale, this place, perhaps an entire country – one we have never visited before, could provide any number of life experiences – lessons we need to learn to bloom into our fullest true self, the realization of a way of life that aligns with our temperament, the outlet for our energy to be renewed with ease – but we will only discover what detail to our life story is waiting to be found when we gather up the courage and visit.

The same road sign in life to heed is wherever your curiosity consistently pulls your attention. It could be something adventurous and grand, but it could also be rather simple or seemingly benign. Perhaps it is wanting to learn more about birds, learn the rules of a particular game that has always fascinated you, yet you’ve never played because you didn’t know how, anything that has always drawn your attention spontaneously anytime it crosses your mind.

“Trust that little voice in your head that says, ‘Wouldn’t it be interesting if . . . ‘ and then do it!” —Duane Michals

Along the journey to unearthing your dharma which is one of the core components of living a life of contentment is learning to trust your curiosity. At first we may misunderstand what this means. We may be on the lookout for our curiosity to point us in an entirely new and different direction than we have ever traveled, but the reality is our curiosity is our constant companion leading us through our days. With awareness and mindfulness we can heed or ignore any of its suggestions. Usually these ideas that our curiosity presents are quite quotidian and small, but when we explore them, we often discover something else furthering the learning of our true self if we hold our mind open and remain fully present. This is very much like unwrapping a present given to us by someone who knows us far better than we understand a particular aspect of ourself at the moment.

“The very least you can do in your life is figure out what you hope for. And the most you can do is live inside that hope. Not admire it from a distance but live right in it, under its roof.” —Barbara Kingsolver

Curiosity arrives in all sorts of guises. Our job is to remove doubt, explore at our own pace, and ask questions along the way refraining from wanting to know and instead holding our mind in the train of thought of wanting to learn. The powerful gift of curiosity, if it is genuine, is that we are fully present and completely absorbed in the moment of whatever or wherever we are. We are so in awe and wonder and fascination of what we are learning, seeing, experiencing, that we aren’t distracted by dreaming of tomorrow or clinging to worry and remaining in the past.

Curiosity sets us free if we engage with it.

In my own life journey, curiosity has been what I now affectionately call my trusted companion. The list upon reflection appears endless containing the many instances of its guiding me through each chapter of my life, onto the next and figuring out where the next new one might begin. From where to travel and visit, to what hobbies to dabble in, how to move through my day, what sartorial choices to make and people to strike up a conversation with, curiosity has always been right there with me. Case in point, my trip to visit Le Côte de Granite Rose in Brittany, one of the beaches seen here in the photo above at the top of the post. You just never know what you will discover, how you will feel when you arrive nor what ahas will come to the forefront of the mind while being fully engaged with what or where your curiosity has led you. In my case, it continues to remind me of how wise it is in knowing the me that is still to be realized.

Enjoy the journey of unearthing your own dharma, and as you begin to trust where you travel, the journey becomes all the more a joy, each and every day. Not only will you discover the gift you can uniquely give to others, but the gift you give yourself will be life changing in the most wonderful of ways. Bonne journée !

1st Photo: Captured during my first visit to La Grève Blanche in Tregastel, Bretagne (France), March 2025; 2nd photo: Norman at the Oregon Coast

~Learn more about TSLL’s Contentment Masterclass here.

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