The Curiosity Driven Life

My cousin Ellie recently recommended a podcast from Oprah’s channel, Super Soul Conversations. The conversation was between Oprah and Elizabeth Gilbert, the best-selling author of Eat, Pray, Love. Their discussion was on the subject of passion. 

Like Ellie, I loved the message of the podcast. I want to share my takeaways with you. 🙂

---

In American culture, we’re pretty passion-centric.

“Just follow your passion. Then it’ll all fall into place.” – is the chorus on repeat. Apparently it’s the recipe for a successful, fulfilling life.

However, what many inspirational speeches and motivational books fail to mention, is that there are plenty of us who didn’t wake up one morning in kindergarten, souls on fire, knowing what we should devote our lives to. 

Whether you’re 15 or 99 years old, if you haven’t figured it out, our passion-obsessed society can you can leave you feeling like a purposeless dud.

Errr…so, I got a degree in Hospitality Management but now I own a cattle ranch and a stone quarry? Am I even passionate about any of those things? At times I’ve felt guilty, because the ranch was my dad’s passion. He literally lived, ate, and breathed it! But…what if it’s not my passion?

Ahoy, there’s hope!

Elizabeth Gilbert advocates to live a curiosity-driven life.

Ask questions, dip your toes in the waters of uncertainty. Read, talk to people, and be bold enough to try new things. You can like it, love it, hate it, feel like a nerd or an idiot – it doesn’t matter. What matters is that by engaging more deeply with the world, and exploring it with an attitude of curiosity, you will enhance your life. 

She came up with a clever analogy: there are jackhammers and hummingbirds. 

Jackhammers are those people who have known their passion since day one. Day after day, they work tirelessly in alignment with their passions. Musicians, athletes, CEOs, etc. You get it. They produce amazing results.

Hummingbirds are those who zip around from curiosity to curiosity. We learn a little bit from a lot of different things. By sharing those things with families, friends, and communities, hummingbirds cross-pollinate the world, and make it all the richer. 

Drumroll…. If you live a curiosity-driven life, you’ll become passionate about life itself. Ka-pow! 😉