The mind that opens to a new idea never returns to its original size.

– Albert Einstein

Curiosity

Curiosity is a state of wonder, a thirst for new learning, an enticement to search the unknown and unfamiliar.

Curiosity requires a release of the boundaries of someone else’s answer for you.

Curiosity keeps us growing with a feeling of expansion of knowledge, of experience, and of wisdom.

Curiosity holds no limitations, no precision and no finality.

Curiosity parallels the universe – it is infinite.

Have you ever wondered where you get your answers from? What filled your bucket of knowledge or of your beliefs? Where did it come from? Just because someone told you it’s this way or that, is it true for you? It may be their version of what’s true for them, but how about you? There’s very little in life that’s an absolute truth where every human being comes to the same conclusion. In fact, the only truth that we all get to experience is that we were born and we will die. Everything else in between these two life points is our own version of the truth that will appear differently from one individual to another. Curiosity doesn’t make someone else’s answer wrong, but it gives them the space of their version of truth while it gives you space to find your own version of truth in a respectful manner. Curiosity doesn’t limit you to a defined container where you must remain enclosed. Curiosity frees you to explore with a sense of wonderment, much like a baby who is beginning to crawl and get downright curious about his/her surroundings. Curiosity brings you back to the childlike wonder before limitations from the outside world began to curtail that freedom.

If your mind was set free to roam, what happens in your body? Perhaps your body may feel a sense of ease, of excitement, or of joy and happiness? Stress response is down regulated, and your body follows suit in a better state of wellbeing. Imagine the opposite of curiousity – of confinement, of excessive rules and regulations, of living in someone else’s answers for you. How does that feel for you?

Sharing with you my own experience:

I grew up in a family that came from a Buddhist and Catholic faith backgrounds. While both my mother and father inherited those backgrounds from their respective families, my parents left my sister and I the freedom to explore what we wanted to believe in, if anything at all. We were not exposed to the usual practices or teachings of these particular backgrounds and from my recall, was not discussed at the dinner table. My only exposure to ‘religion’ was citing the Lord’s Prayer at morning announcements in my public elementary school and pulling out a Children’s Bible from the bookshelf out of my own accord to read from pure curiosity. I did not know what I did not know.

However, I was always curious – what is faith? What is religion? What is spirituality? What’s the difference? What did I believe? Did I believe? Did it matter? As I became an adult, the fact that I had an empty canvas to draw upon my own picture, curiosity kept me exploring, asking questions, reading and researching, and remaining open to learn from other people’s teachings and practices. To this day, I continue to remain curious, while formulating some answers that resonate most for me. My parents gave me the gift of curiosity rather than forced upon learning. It allowed me to stay open, to explore, and to formulate my own version of my own truth. The gift of curiosity allowed me to stay in a wonderous child-like state of inquisition and exploration.

Turning it over to you:

What areas in your life could curiosity free you?

How would a greater dose of curiosity help heal you?

Imagine yourself in state of curiosity – what would you find there?

Curiosity allows me to be _________________________________

Tips and tools to hopefully help you:

When someone tells you an answer, repeat it silently back to yourself with a question mark notation at the end of the statement. For example, “There is nothing over there.” turn it into “There is nothing over there??” Notice that simply by questioning, it keeps one open and curious.

If you feel someone is always telling you how to think, how to do this, and how to do that…thank them silently for their intention to help you and then seek out for yourself how you would like to think etc.