A Taboo Topic.
A viral article I loved, are you still a creative genius, and I need YOU!!
Hi you, I’m so happy you are reading this right now. It brightens my day to sit with you and talk about life! It’s Wednesday and it’s your weekly reminder to keep wandering.
Don’t try to straighten out your life or figure things out just yet. I know it sounds foolish and maybe a little reckless, but I can assure you it is not.
Read on to find…
fierce encouragement to keep your life enchanted and sparkly (plus an article that went viral),
a prompt to unearth more of your creative nature,
a little invitation just for YOU!!
Let’s begin!
I agree with Amie, who’s article on Substack went viral —I don’t want a job. At least, not in the traditional sense of being a cog in someone else’s machine, told what to do and how to do it. As Amie so aptly put it:
“I refuse to accept that the majority of our time must be spent doing shit that does not light us up.”
This is, of course, a nuanced conversation, but at its core, I think what Amie—and so many of us—are trying to express is this:
Your life is meant to be enchanted.
Work does not have to be drudgery.
And you can rebel against a system that pushes you toward meaningless toil.
When we adopt the mindset of a wanderer, we’re already halfway there.
Wanderers choose the unconventional, spiraling path of adventure instead of sliding down the prescriptive, paved roads to supposed success.
When we move through life more like fascinated wanderers than listless workers...
We make space for our creative spirit to swirl and speak.
We celebrate curiosity rather than suppress it.
We delight in the peculiar rather than the popular directions life leads us.
And we allow ourselves to endlessly evolve and reinvent.
In her essay, Amie makes it clear that this doesn’t mean life suddenly becomes all confetti and cupcakes. She writes:
“Because I have an intolerance for a life that doesn’t sparkle, I created a life that was filled with meaning and purpose. Ironically, to do so, I worked harder than I ever have before. But it was work that absolutely glittered.”
For the last two years, I’ve scrolled through LinkedIn, Craigslist, Indeed, and Idealist nearly every day, hoping for the job to finally appear at the top of the list. Guess what? It hasn’t.
And now I know: it never will.
Instead of waiting for a reliable monthly paycheck to give me a sense of purpose, I decided to just hire myself.
By that, I mean following a path that feels true to who I am—one that isn’t dictated by external approval or traditional ideas of success. Little by little, I’m whacking down my own way and reconnecting with my inner wanderer.
Society would love to tell me I’m irresponsible, but listening to my inquisitive self has revived a childlike energy within me. Every day, I wake up excited for what’s unfolding and who I’m becoming in the process.
*Thank you Amie for speaking up about a difficult, multi-layered topic so many of us wrestle with and can’t quite articulate and for offering us practical guidance to bring change to our lives and the world! (Please read Amie’s full article here and then she also wrote a follow-up here.)
I’m completely with Amie—it's time to pull back the covers on this taboo conversation about the systems behind work, and perhaps even more so, focus on creativity. What does it truly mean to be creative? What happened to your creativity, and how does its presence (or absence!) shape your life?
On that note, have you heard about the famous NASA study?
In a longitudinal test of creative potential, a NASA study found that of 1,600 4- and 5-year-olds, 98 percent scored at "creative genius" level. Five years later, only 30 percent of the same group of children scored at the same level, and again, five years later, only 12 percent. When the same test was administered to adults, it was found that only two percent scored at this genius level.
-Excerpt from Inc. article, You're 96 Percent Less Creative Than You Were as a Child. Here's How to Reverse That
Be curious about…What makes you come alive, lose track of time, and feel like a more connected and generous human?
How can you begin to tap into that raw, unsophisticated, and beautifully untamed part of yourself?
Surprise!! It’s YOU.
That’s right—you are the Wanderer of the Week! Today, I’m flipping the script and featuring you. I want to start sharing your stories with others in this community.
If we're being honest, none of us truly know where we're going or what comes next. We're wanderers through this limitless landscape of our lives.
So if you’re still figuring things out, if you’re trying and failing, playing with your wild ideas, diving into the mess, surrendering to the tears, laughing at the absurdity of it all, and still daring to show up every day—you are a Wanderer.
I want to hear your story (and so do many others!) Share your journey with us, because your words will unlock:
The courage for someone to take their next step
The reminder that they’re not alone in the chaos
A spark of inspiration that helps others embrace their own adventure.
Hit reply and let me know your answer to any or all of these questions and I will feature your story.
When was the last time you followed an impulse or intuition that completely changed the direction of your journey?
How do you embrace uncertainty in your life? Do you have any practices that help you stay curious and open to the unknown?
What’s the most unconventional or adventurous thing you’ve done that made you feel truly alive?
What does being a "wanderer" mean to you? How does it show up in your daily life?
Thank you for reading and joining me here!
I’d so appreciate hearing your answer to any of the above questions-because I know I need encouragement!!
Also, I’ve been sharing a favorite podcast episode and/or audiobook every day this month as an experiment, so I’ll see you tomorrow!
