Curiosity Probably Actually Kept the Cat Alive Longer
A case for getting curious...
Recently a friend told me that anxiety and curiosity can’t exist in the brain at the same time. That really struck me. I’d been thinking a lot about curiosity, about how it opens up spaces rather than closes them down.
I have long thought that a carefully worded question can change so much more than carefully worded advice.
I see that with my clients. The most powerfully transformative sessions with clients are when we get curious.
Our brains can be quick to shut things ideas down. A dreamy idea might pop in our heads and we’ll reject it as fanciful. A possibility about something we want might arise and we’ll tell ourselves we can’t have it because of x, y and z. What if we got curious about it instead?
An example:
I think, “oh I’d love to write a short story collection”
Judgement brain: “well that’s a ridiculous idea, no one buys short stories. That would ruin your career, you have to be working on the next novel.”
Curiosity brain- “What is drawing you to write a collection?” “What themes are interesting you?” “If you love short stories, other people must too, right?” “I wonder how many short story collections were published last year?” “How do you know it would ruin your career?” “What is it that you so love about short stories?” “What would writing a collection look like?”
Just in that example you can see how much more expansive it is than the original judgment that shut a burgeoning idea down.
Curiosity is also an amazing tool for editing. Rather than coming to the page looking for everything that is wrong with the piece. Ask questions.
What would happen if I started this story in a different place?
I wonder what this story would feel like in a different POV?
Could I end this story earlier? What might that do?
What is really standing out that’s working really well?
Where do I keep getting caught?
Curiosity holds such a different energy. It feels like possibility rather than fear, it feels childlike rather than stuck in its ways, it feels expansive rather than contracted, playful rather than rigid.
So maybe next time you are sure of the answer (especially if that answer is negative) get curious.
What is something you might get curious about in your creative life today?
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Recommendations
A few things I’ve loved recently…
The Correspondent: If Virginia Evans hadn’t got curious and delved into the question- can you write a novel purely in letters? this beautiful, moving and funny book may never have been written.
Between You and Me: Out in February, by Emer Rohan . I was lucky enough to get an ARC copy. This book gets curious about how one teenager’s online presence can cause a butterfly effect across two families lives. It left me thinking about it for a long time afterwards.
The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny: I’m in the middle of this book by Kiran Desai and I’m loving it. It feels like the kind of book that doesn’t get published so much these days- it’s long, it’s meandering, it’s not action after action, it’s glorious! A non-curious mind might not have allowed Desai to write a sweeping love story of 600 pages.
Mentoring
Here is a very imperfect video of me talking about why mentoring is helpful for writers. Sometimes videos help me get more of a sense of a person, so here I am showing up and covering the mic :)
Love this and I'm going to share it with the writing group I run. Thank you
I love this! Coincidentally my word for 2026 is curiosity.