Today is my business’s birthday! 🎂
Curiosity Rising is six years old today! That’s actually not entirely true… The business I formed on 1/9/19 was originally named Embodied. Counseling + Yoga for the first year and a half. That’s a testament to just starting and not letting perfection get in your way.
I didn’t love the first name I incorporated my business with - but it did the job. It clearly told people what my business offered. It was good for SEO. It filled my practice within a few months. But I always knew it was temporary…
I love naming things that have deep emotional resonance. And that’s what I discovered in 2020 on one of many long c*vid walks.
That’s when Curiosity Rising was born 🚀
As I’ve been reflecting on six years of my business, I found an old hidden page on my website where I explained the meaning behind the name. You can check it out here if you want.
One thing I always loved about the Curiosity Rising name is actually the opposite of what I liked about the original temporary name.
It’s not clear AT ALL what this business is about. It’s intentionally ambiguous.
Yes, I can explain to you (with many layers) how both “curiosity” and “rising” relate to the types of therapy I offered: somatic therapy, IFS therapy, and psychedelic therapy.
But also…. WTF does “curiosity rising” mean?
Actually - I’d love to know what kind of a business you’d guess it was by just the name!
All this intentional ambiguity came in handy when I decided to close down the therapy part of my business last March.
Because in addition to my 1-1 therapy practice, Curiosity Rising has also been the home to retreats, masterminds, workshops, and briefly - an online group coaching program.
All of this before what became the primary focus of the business for the past three months – a publishing company.
This is a biiiiiiig stretch to call it that - like really big. It has published exactly one. single. book. But, there are more in the queue. And there was a moment (or two) when I was putting “Curiosity Rising” as the publishing company that I entertained the idea of using the business to support other aspiring authors who also want to Self-publish.
All this to say – I love the flexibility my business name has allowed me. Which is the premise of the name in the first place…
To allow myself to follow my curiosities… even when they lead me away from the original plan of the business.
To allow myself to rise (or revolt) against the norm.
To hold space for expansion and evolution. 🌀
Which brings me to the subject line of this email: I miss being a therapist.
Apparently today, I’m telling you a lot of truths that are also not fully true.
A more precise way of saying what I mean is this: I’ve been really missing the deep work I used to do with people as a therapist. Like, a lot.
There have been sprinkles of these “moments of missing” over the past few months, but I was so busy publishing my first book, I didn’t have much space to give these feelings.
Over this past weekend though, there was a pretty big moment I couldn’t ignore. And it helped me to really capture some aspects of my old work that I’m deeply missing.
The other truth here is this: I don’t regret closing my therapy practice.
I knew then (and still know now) that it was necessary to end that chapter of my life and business. There were things I needed to discover about myself - outside of being a therapist.
That version of me and Curiosity Rising needed to end when it did.
And - what I admitted to myself this past weekend was this: I’m open to exploring a new version of working with people individually and in small groups again.
I don’t know what that means or what it will look like yet. The first step is just allowing myself to be with the feelings of “missing” and getting even more clarity about what aspects of my old work used to light me up so much.
First things first…
I want to get my “Self-Trust book" out into the world. I finished the first round of edits this week. I have a cover mock-up that I love.🤩 (join BTS to see)
It’s my favorite thing I’ve written so far (and dare I even say – I’m really fucking proud of it?!) and I’m getting really eager to put it out there for you all to read.
I need to follow through on this book first.
I’m embracing the "seasonal approach” to business even more deeply this year. And this “seasonal approach” is a huge part of how the "Self-Trust book" is structured.
So, after a spring release of this book… then we’ll see what lies ahead for Curiosity Rising… beyond being a “publishing company”.
Thanks for reading this far – that’s a really great birthday gift!! 🎁
