What sparks your curiosity?

“Write what you know — and what you are curious about.”

Kyoko Mori, keynote at the Claggett Writer’s Retreat, March 7, 2022

Kyoko’s writing is gorgeous and descriptive and delicate and filled with the tender pain of life. I soaked up her keynote, her presence, her gingko-shaped earrings and felt so glad to be at the retreat. I hadn’t written in months. Well, not anything besides grant proposals, fundraising letters, sermons, newsletter articles and grocery lists. I wasn’t sure how to write again- if I had the will to re-commit to a writing practice.

And Kyoko pulled me in. Curiosity pulled me in.

What sparks your curiosity? she asked us. My pen replied:

human behavior

travel

growing things

maps

genealogy

the future

languages/accents/expressions

visual content out of a car window

how people live/survive/grow

how people think/make meaning

passion for a task

competence at a craft

history

stories

sometimes statistics

patterns

beauty

smells

memories

museums

movement

flavors

secrets — especially secrets.