What Makes Us Tick

After spending several decades on this earth, and having the good fortune to check off a few major milestones along the way, I’ve finally come to realize what it is that truly makes me tick . . . that underlying drive which inspires me to get up and keep at it every day.

Lots of people are motivated by physical discipline,

while others by social interaction,

some by political passion, artistic endeavors, or intellectual pursuits,

 

and then there are those blessed with ageless energy 

and endless ambition . . .

However, a few of us are driven by less obvious incentives.  And for me, that motivator is an insatiable level of nosiness.

My whole life I’ve been nosy. And, for the most part, I’ve been made to feel ashamed of it.

It wasn’t until I was a middle-aged adult that I understood it was a natural (even essential) trait among storytellers. We have to be nosy.

Our kind of nosiness isn’t about passing judgement on your successes and failures or scrutinizing the way you look.

What I, and many other nosy storytellers, am observing are your reactions, your emotions, your connections – those elements and details of your life which make a good story.

My nosiness extends to the world at large, the mysteries and splendors of the natural realm. Being outside in the woods, beneath the water, above a city, before a meadow draws me into possible hidden corners I’m yearning to discover.

Sometimes my nosiness backfires, like the time I took an hour long Uber ride late one day. After asking the driver my usual nosy questions (Do you like driving and meeting people? Have you had any funny experiences?), he not only shared his lifelong dreams & disappointments with me, but he insisted I listen to a recording of his heavy metal band the whole ride home, and then take several homemade CDs with me to give to friends. 

However, the rewards of being nosy have far outweighed the misfires over the years. Just a few weeks ago, I persuaded my husband and our dog to wander down just one more dirt road, just one more overgrown trail,  just one more weedy path until I spotted a glistening through the trees: A remote, pristine pond in the White Mountain National Forest I’d heard about for years, but could never find… pure, nosy bliss. 

What makes you tick?

 

UPDATES: I’m “Wandering & Wondering” on INSTAGRAM now, posting my nosy photos:  www.instagram.com/elizzzatkinson
~ Are you participating in National Novel Writing Month in November? Join me, if you can, at the Nashua Public Library ( here ) and the Hamilton-Wenham Public Library ( here ) for #NaNoWriMo events!

 

 

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