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A big part of the Life Between Weekends philosophy is creating a life you love on your own terms, and naturally, that involves a big, scary, close-this-window-rather-than-think-about-it question: What are you meant to be doing?
Yup, we’re going there.
For some, finding your passion comes naturally: You were born with a soul-throbbing desire to do this one thing, and you love, love, love it. That is so amazing, and it deserves to be celebrated. Our goal over the years will be to help you develop and pursue that passion. But what about those who just aren’t sure?
Well, for that, Elizabeth Gilbert has some pretty incredible advice.
Yes, the Eat, Pray, Love author. And it’s a beautiful way to frame our search for purpose:
“Follow your curiosity,” Gilbert told audiences during Oprah’s The Life You Want tour. “It might lead you to your passion or it might not. You might get nothing out of it at all except a beautiful, long life where all you did was follow your gorgeous curiosity. And that should be enough too.”
Passion ebbs and flows. What you feel red-hot about one afternoon can feel stale, boring and unoriginal a week later, and that’s not a sign that it’s not for you. That’s just the natural pendulum swing of feeling passionate about something; like being balled-fists angry or giggly-giddy, those extreme feelings can be fleeting, so maybe passion isn’t the best barometer of purpose. And maybe we need to cut ourselves a break from all the purpose-seeking.
Curiosity has never seemed so appealing. You can view her whole message here:
If you’re reading this, what’s one curiosity-piquing interest you’re going to pursue? What’s one baby step you’re going to take to start exploring it this week?
Note: Just before this post went live, we saw the news about Gilbert’s upcoming book, Big Magic, which dovetails perfectly with today’s Tuesday Takeaway. We designed the series to give you a taste of a topic, then introduce you to resources to take a deeper dive if you’re so inclined, so here’s where you can get more details on her book.
This post is part of Life Between Weekends’ Tuesday Takeaway series. Every Tuesday, we’ll share the most compelling insight we’ve gleaned from a book, movie, tour, documentary or article to inspire you during the workday.
Top Photo: Bec Brown/Unsplash; Gilbert quote is from her interview with Etsy regarding her upcoming book, Big Magic.
