Last month I talked about how some of my 100 places, 300 pages Quests had been close to home—as in, within my own house.

This month’s was the furthest afield so far! I flew across the Atlantic (for a work trip), and took myself to SFMOMA (San Francisco Museum of Modern Art).

AND I got to sit in front of a painting by one of my favourite artists, Rothko.

I can be quite a speedy person, used to getting things done. Historically, this hasn’t always synced so well with things that require you to slow down and take your time—visual art being one.

This 100 places, 300 pages Quest has made a big difference to my ability to pay deeper and slower attention, in a way that I am LOVING. It’s a fun and practical frame that’s retraining my brain.

This month I was asked a question about the effects of doing the 1000 Nights Quest. What’s it like now, having read all of those things?

(For context, this was a Quest, inspired by Ray Bradbury, to read a poem, a short story and an essay every night for 1000 nights.)

There are so many ways to answer this question. Let me share a recent and practical example, linked to reading 1000 poems.

When I started the Quest, I was not a poetry reader. I hadn’t really read poems since school, occasionally skimming one at best.

Flash forwards to this recent trip to San Francisco, and this was my travel companion…A collection of Billy Collins’ poems.

The 1000 Nights Quest has led me to poets I love. Whose words and images have become part of my inner world. But beyond that, they’re also now a part of the language and references that connect me to others. Pretty cool I’d say!

To quote Ray Bradbury himself on this reading:

‘Before you go to bed you're stuffing your head with one short story, one poem, and one essay. At the end of a thousand nights Jesus God you'll be full of stuff won't you. You'll be full of ideas and metaphors along with your perceptions of life and your own personal experiences… The more metaphors you can cram yourself with, they'll bounce around inside your head and make new metaphors.’

He also says:

‘Ideas result from the collision of metaphors inside the head.’

Yep! Of all the things you could fill your head with, I can highly recommend more glorious metaphors.

As promised, I’m going to share a gem: a poem that is rich with metaphors, Billy Collins’, Today.

Billy also says:

‘I think my work has to do with a sense that we are attempting, all the time, to create a logical, rational path through the day. To the left and right there are an amazing set of distractions that we usually can’t afford to follow. But the poet is willing to stop anywhere.’

That actually sounds pretty Questful to me!

I asked one of my wonderful Questful participants what had surprised him most about doing a Quest, and he said:

‘Working with Danielle on two Quests was an exceptional experience. She's incredibly positive and creative but what surprised me most was her intuition. In moments where the path forward felt unclear she separated the signal from the noise and guided me in a direction that actually mattered and ultimately was most rewarding.’

A Questful path.

One that matters to you, but is also infused with discovery.

Where in your week might you like to stop and explore, just because…?

For me that will be 30 minutes tomorrow (Sunday), sat in a place still to be decided, observing and writing away for 3 pages. Fun.

You never know what you might see. And what it might spark!

Any questions about Quests, you can wave at me here…

Until next time,

PS: Thanks for reading my Questful World letter. If you know someone who might enjoy this, please feel free to forward it to them. They can hit subscribe and join us.