For at least twenty years, I have enjoyed walking labyrinths. Labyrinths are maze-like structures that have been used as spiritual tools for centuries. For the past seven years, I’ve been walking labyrinths throughout the northeastern United States, and blogging about them. To learn more about labyrinths, check out this page at the Labyrinth Society. To find labyrinths near you, try the Worldwide Labyrinth Locator.

This is the final labyrinth I walked last Wednesday. (If you missed some, click on the category link on the right for “labyrinths,” and look for labyrinths #102, 103, and 104.) When I walk a labyrinth, I usually ask a question as I enter, and listen for insight into the question as I walk. All the questions on Wednesday related to how I can “feed my mind” better, how I can try to nourish my mind by “consuming” good information and experiences.

This fourth labyrinth in northern New Jersey was at the Episcopal Church of the Atonement in Tenafly. It’s a 6-circuit medieval design, with a grass path and inlaid brick walls. As I was wrapping up the day, I was starting to get a little mentally tired, so I wanted a question that was simple and wouldn’t necessarily lead to really heavy stuff. I didn’t know if I had the energy left for that. So I asked a softball question: What are some good things to feed my mind?

As I started walking, I listed things: fiction books, non-fiction books that interest me, videos that are teaching rather than numbing, news that’s helpful rather than outrageous. And then it hit me:

Things that activate my curiosity.

That’s the thing. I want to feed myself with things that activate curiosity. And that can include all kinds of media, books, magazines, videos, television shows, whatever. And it can include experiences. And it can include my own writing. If it activates curiosity, then it’s feeding me nourishing food.

And that felt like enough labyrinths for the day. There was one more I was considering walking in the area, but it was hot and sticky outside, and I felt like this was a good place to stop. I decided to go home and be curious there.

I walked back to my car feeling empowered. Maybe curiosity can be a focus I can take with me for the future.