Curiosity

Nurture your curiosity

The word "charm" gets thrown around in Vedic circles often. Following charm and moving towards what feels charming to us are common ways to describe using our fine level of feeling and acting on a strengthened intuition.

To break down what it is when we talk about charm, I'd like to share with you an experience I had this past week. I was spending the morning exploring the beautiful town of Portland, Maine. I decided to be a stereotypical Maine tourist and spend the day looking at lighthouses. While I was checking out my first one (a beautiful lighthouse jutting out into the bay) I noticed what I thought to be some odd flock of birds a few miles in the distance. Each one was shaped differently and they seemed to move and fly in place. I soon realized they were kites!

I felt a familiar twinge of curiosity. I needed to know more. So I walked back to my car and started moving towards the kites, weaving my way through streets I believed would get me closer. I finally arrived at a park on the river and found 20 spectacular kites all floating and dancing in the wind. It was amazing. I plopped on the grass and spent the next thirty minutes enjoying the show up above.

While looking up at the kites from another side of the park, a man came up to me and said "Welcome to our gathering, we're the Nor'Easters." They were a group of kite flyers from all over New England and he told me that I'd stumbled upon the best spot to fly a kite in all of Maine. He then mentioned that this specific gathering was a memorial service for one of their founding members who had recently passed. And every kite that I saw flying was his. His final wish was that they get together and share a sweet day flying his kites.

I was blown away. What was already a wonderful moment became even more special. I never met this fellow, but I felt I now knew a very special part of him. And I got to meet a few members of his community that obviously loved him so. We chatted for a bit and off I went; feeling so full, surprised, and at the same time not surprised that I'd stumbled on such a great moment.

This story is a perfect example of following charm. A more practical way to explain it: be curious. When something feels intriguing, see what it's like to move in that direction. It doesn't have to make sense (most of the time it won't), simply see what happens if you move towards it. This is something we can play around with at any moment; for a few minutes, an hour, or a whole afternoon. It's a great way to practice taking it as it comes (something we've become so good at in our meditation practice) in the waking state.

The less stressed we become, our lens gets wider and our intuition becomes a lot louder. We can see more of what life has to offer. The next step is to engage, to act. The best way to align yourself with your much stronger and clearer intuition? Be curious. See what feels intriguing (or charming) and act on it...then repeat. That innocent and playful curiosity leads to a lot of pleasant surprises and opportunities we'd never encounter through overthinking or overplanning.

Take it as it comes. And as it comes, take it.