It’s been quiet here for a little while. Not a long silence, but long enough that I’ve noticed it. At the start of the month I wrote about September being “the other January” – a kind of invisible reset, a moment to pause and take stock. I thought I’d step into that with ease, words flowing as I caught the rhythm of the season.
But instead I’ve been working on getting my book ready for publishing (more details to follow sooner than you may think). That has been a journey in itself. I don’t want that to sound like an excuse, but maybe it’s a noticing – a clue as to why this writing, A Curious Follower writing, has felt harder than usual.
Maybe I’m learning how to live with the blank page as well as the full one. Silence teaches me to trust that worth isn’t found in constant productivity. I believe this is the Spirit’s rhythm – sometimes whole chapters flow quickly, other times I struggle to string a sentence together.
Either way, the pause has made me think more deeply about what holds this space steady. What is A Curious Follower really about? Perhaps now is the right time to put those values into words – not as a manifesto (we probably have enough of those in the world), but as foundations to return to when things feel fragile.
Curiosity
As a child I was insatiably curious. I wanted to know how things worked, why the sky looked the way it did, what was hiding behind the locked cupboard door in my grandparents’ house. Curiosity didn’t always win me prizes, but it did keep me alive to possibility.
Adulthood teaches us to trade curiosity for certainty. Certainty feels safer, cleaner, easier to carry. But it can also shut us down, stop us listening, keep us from mystery.
This space is built on curiosity. The kind that asks, what if? The kind that admits, I don’t know. Jesus often answered questions with more questions. He seemed more interested in stirring imagination than shutting it down.
So here, curiosity is not a threat. It’s a way of staying awake. A way of noticing that God is bigger than our boxes, kinder than our categories, and nearer than we dare believe.
Attentive
We live in a culture obsessed with outcomes. Quicker, louder, bigger. I’ve felt it myself – the pressure to measure my worth in what I’ve done. But silence teaches another way: to pay attention.
Attentiveness is about slowing down long enough to notice what’s already here. The warmth of sunlight across a kitchen table. The nervous laugh tucked inside a friend’s story. The quiet whisper Elijah once heard on a mountain – not in wind or fire, but in stillness.
This space is not about constant doing. It’s about presence. About trusting that worth isn’t tied to output, and that what really matters is often found in what seems small.
Invitation
There are already plenty of voices telling you what to think, what to buy, who to be. A Curious Follower is not here to add to that noise.
Instead, this is a place of invitation. To sit down at the table. To linger with questions. To walk together for a stretch, even if our paths don’t always align.
I follow Jesus, and that shapes the way I see. But you don’t need to share my beliefs to belong here. You’re welcome just as you are. If you’re curious, sceptical, or still searching, this space is for you too.
Invitation is open-handed. I can’t promise neat answers or tidy conclusions, but I can extend the offer to reflect, to imagine, to wonder alongside me.
Vulnerable
Performance is polished, rehearsed, impressive. Vulnerability is none of those things. And yet, connection is born there.
Here, I want to write honestly. To admit when I’m tired. To name the days when my faith feels fragile. To talk about grief as well as joy, questions as well as convictions. Jesus wept at a friend’s grave. He knew hunger, weariness, loneliness. If he could carry those things without shame, maybe I can too.
This space is not about pretending to have it together. It’s about being truthful – about myself, about life, about God. If you’ve ever felt like you can’t keep up with the polished versions of faith you’ve seen elsewhere, you’re not alone.
Wonder
Life is heavy enough. Faith shouldn’t add to the weight. It should lighten us, lift our eyes, breathe hope into our lungs.
Wonder is about seeing the sacred in what might otherwise go unnoticed. The joy of laughter over breakfast. The quiet beauty of a woodland path. The courage of carrying on when the road feels long.
Jesus once said we need the faith of a child. Maybe this is what he meant – not naivety, but openness. The willingness to be astonished. The readiness to believe that grace might be closer than we think.
This space is about recovering wonder. Not to escape life, but to live it more fully.
Grace
If there’s a thread holding these values together, it’s grace. Grace that makes room for questions and difference. Grace that whispers in the silence: you are not alone.
I believe this is the Spirit’s way – presence over performance, invitation over instruction, curiosity over certainty. Not because it’s easier, but because it’s truer.
And this is what A Curious Follower is trying to be. Not a brand. Not a project. But a space of grace.
Beginning a Series
These five words – curiosity, attentive, invitation, vulnerable, wonder – are not the end. They’re the beginning.
Over the coming weeks, I’ll explore each of them in turn. Not as abstract concepts, but as lived realities. Some reflections will draw on Scripture, some on stories from my own journey, some on the ordinary days that hold more meaning than we realise.
My hope is that as we walk through them, you’ll find yourself reflecting too:
What values are shaping the spaces I belong to?
Which foundations are holding me steady — or keeping me weary?
What might it look like to live more openly, more attentively, more vulnerably?
Looking Ahead
And here’s the truth: A Curious Follower is no longer just words on a page. It’s becoming a lived reality – with all the risk and cost that comes with stepping out. Real bills. Real challenges. Real uncertainty.
So I want to end with a simple request: hold me, this space, and those who stumble across it in your prayers – or in whatever way you hold people in your heart. Not for certainty or tidy solutions, but for courage to stay curious, for grace to stay attentive, and for faith to keep stepping forward.
Thank you for walking this road with me. You are welcome here, just as you are.
Josh | A Curious Follower
A Curious Follower is a space for anyone learning to slow down, live with intention, and follow the quiet tug of something deeper. However you come, welcome. Thank you for being here.
If something in this reflection resonated, you’re invited to share it with someone, leave a thought below, or simply sit with the question in your own way.