When was the last time you spent time chasing what made you curious?
My doomscrolling cycle usually includes periods where I’m constantly reaching for my phone as a quick fix to numb a very overstimulated brain. It works until it doesn’t and at some point the noise comes through anyways.
Work got a little crazy this past month and I found myself reaching for my phone too much so to counter my need to fill my schedule while still fulfilling my desire for information, I started blocking out time for curiosity.
The first day actually started from a study date I scheduled with Janice where we each brought a magazine to a cafe and spent the morning reading articles and noting down what caught our interest. Since starting to plan for my international move (that’s now thankfully behind me) I haven’t been purchasing any print media so to finally get my hands on a new issue of Monocle felt like reuniting with an old friend.
Issue 195 of Monocle got me thinking about the details that make a city more desirable to live in. And whether I was really taking advantage of what Paris is offering me. My brain wandered to third spaces, experiential design, as well as products that help people learn about themselves. While all of these topics actually relate really well to where I’m at and the projects I’m working on, what actually stuck out was how this day made me feel.
I couldn’t remember the last time I spent time chasing my curiosity. I’ve grown so used to looking at feeds that I forgot my brain could source interesting ideas without the guidance of an algorithm. 2 hours spent following my own thoughts gave me what a week of scrolling couldn’t. It made me notice how by numbing my tired brain with content, I was also muting my creativity.
It was also a good reminder that taste isn’t built online. We can scroll through thousands of inspiration photos but what actually makes your style unique is your lived experience. The culture you immerse yourself in. The feelings you take away.
Cities shape you. Spaces shape you. Experiences shape you. When you limit yourself to your own field or format, you’re cornering yourself in an echo chamber.
So that’s where the idea of a wonder day comes from. Is it just an over-glorified study day for an adult who’s long graduated? Kind of! But it’s been one of my favourite ways to get creatively inspired lately and I think everyone needs to try it.
How to have a wonder day
There’s no “right” way to do this but here’s how I’ve structured my wonder days:
Start with something that interests you
I love the idea of starting offline with a print publication or book but when that’s not available, I’ll browse an online publication I enjoy or through my subscriptions list on Substack. As I’m reading through articles, I keep tabs on
what topics catch my attention
questions I may have from my reading
additional resources that authors have referenced
Pick one idea and go from there
Once a topic or idea sticks, follow it and see where it takes you. Typically this is when I start searching on Google, YouTube, or sometimes even podcasts if I’m in an audio mood. As you’re working through topics, take notes! I have a dedicated learning/research notebook that’s filling up quickly with messy scribbles.
Stay flexible
If you’re main idea or topic changes, that’s totally okay. See where it takes you. Picking an idea is more about finding a direction than settling on one single topic. I sometimes will draw out a mind map at this point to help me map out where my thoughts are going.
To do this, put your original idea or topic in the middle and start writing down questions or related topics that come up. Below you’ll find mine when I was thinking about city living.
Form your own opinions in the process
Not every wonder day has to result in output but it’s important to at least record down your own opinion on the topic, even if it’s just a couple of sentences. As I mentioned in my article around building your personal taste, when you’re able to clearly differentiate between ideas that you support versus ones that you don’t agree with it, it teaches you how to be more articulate in your own work as well.
Keep it short and easy if you need. But try to add your own ideas into the mix.
What to bring
I almost always overpack for a café day, thinking I’ll need more than I do. But one thing that makes my wonder days more successful is actually limiting what I can bring with me.
I find that when I’m surrounded by choice, it makes it a lot harder to focus on what I need to do. So for these days all I bring is
my iPad Pro (use your laptop if that’s what you have)
a research notebook for taking notes
a book or magazine if that’s your source
Archiving my notes
I’ll always prefer taking notes by hand because the act of putting pen to paper helps me commit my notes to memory but I have also been enjoying archiving my notes in my personal knowledge management system (PKM) which currently lives in Obsidian. I’m thinking of doing a separate article on why I chose Obsidian and how I use it, so if you’re interested in that, let me know!
Staying curious
I didn’t just get a list of new reads from my curiosity chasing, although that in itself was a reward. I got more ideas. Ideas that flowed a little easier when they came. A feeling of expansion that created more space for creativity. But most of all, I felt inspired (and almost obligated) to follow those ideas instead of letting them pass by unnoticed.
One of those ideas turned into a whole different rabbit hole about taste—why we build it, why the internet makes it harder to trust our own, and what it actually takes to develop a point of view that’s ours. If that’s something you’re curious about too, I write about it here.
I’ve had 2 more wonder days since, and whether or not it leads to an article or video, it always leaves me feeling satiated and motivated. When will you try to schedule in yours?
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Angel xo