A Life Organized by Curiosity
And explored through movement
Apr 15, 2026
I recently read Emil J Kang’s article The Sobriety of the Drunken Walk and it very much resonated, especially right now as the next phase of my own “Drunken Walk” is actively unfolding.
I’d like to add to the conversation by sharing my story, in the context of how the drunken walk has felt in my body.
Where it Began for Me
From the earliest days of my professional life, I felt tangled in a narrative that was inherently at odds with how I operated. In America, the question “What do you do?” is the first, quintessential get-to-know-you question people ask. The question is supposed to somehow frame your entire existence and help people make sense of you. Except, more often than not, people need your answer to be something linear and concrete - a title, an industry, a clear progression through your field.
This line of thinking comes from leading with the mind.
In contrast, I led with my body. I was drawn to my various roles through curiosity. When I felt a spark of excitement, I’d follow it into a new setting or role, pursuing the feeling of being challenged and alive in both my mind and body.
From my perspective, I was pursuing dance as a career, which in the real world meant following my interests while finding opportunities to make money. From the outside, it looked more like a loosely coherent string of side jobs.
But the pressure towards the linear path was relentless, and I could never escape people’s insistence on it. If I talked about teaching Pilates, they presumed I must be working towards opening my own studio one day. If I titled myself an Aerialist, they imagined my end goal must be to join Cirque du Soleil.
This way of thinking infuriated me. Being on a direct path to a predetermined outcome always felt claustrophobic and gave me a sense of dread.
At age 20, I built a website, which I titled Movement Inspired. On the About page, I declared that my life and career would be defined by seeking inspiration through movement—of my body, my mind, and my overall trajectory in life.
While it was not a linear path, it was a through line, and I hoped it would help me make sense from the outside.
Ironically, this actually brought me much-needed clarity. For the first time, I framed my career around process rather than outcomes. With this framing, seemingly random opportunities looked less like a detour from a path (which diluted my energy) and more like an expansion of possibility (which gave me energy). The more I embodied this, the more easily my path unfolded.
Here’s What it Feels Like to be Process-Based
It begins with a spark of curiosity. You are drawn towards something and because it interests you, you easily invest your attention there. Learning and exploration follow. Since your senses are open, you can more easily detect danger and misalignment.
Alignment feels like plugging in to a generator, and the electricity starts flowing. Sensing danger requires digging deeper - until you uncover the true cause of it.
The further you go, the more you learn.
The more you learn, the more curious you become.
Being open to curiosity expands possibility.
You know how things always make more sense in retrospect?
When you choose the drunken walk as an intentional mode of operation, you are choosing to follow the path and to be present to the experience before you get to tie the neat bow around it. The reward is all sorts of surprises you couldn’t have imagined.
Plot Twist
Here’s a fun twist to the story. Nervousness and excitement are nearly identical from a physiological perspective - they feel the same. The distinction comes from when we cognitively assign meaning to the feeling. Because the body responds quicker than the mind, there is a critical point in time where you can choose whether to contract in fear or expand into possibility.
My Story Continues
Currently, I find myself in a new transition. After founding and running a nonprofit arts service organization* for the past 11 years, I feel that same pressure as I look for new work. What is my title? Industry? What’s the linear progression of my work history?
This time around, I’m not even going to try to contort myself into something more linear.
I’ve moved on.
Now I’m following my curiosity to explore a new set of questions:
What becomes possible when we stop treating the body as secondary to thinking and instead let it lead?
How can we infuse movement into the language we use so our words carry more weight - more life?
What would it look like for creativity to function as infrastructure - in our communities, our businesses, and our ability to envision the future?
I don’t know exactly where these questions will lead.
They may attract collaborators.
They may open unexpected opportunities.
They may connect me with people who are asking similar things.
They may invite pushback - and take me somewhere deeper.
But I do know this:
This is the path that feels most like home.
*I feel a similar tension in how arts nonprofits are funded - trying to fit process-based work into measurable, outcome-based frameworks can constrict the very creativity those systems aim to support. I’m currently exploring what more generative, win-win models could look like.