Curiosity in One Fell Swoop
A question rolls into your orbit and WHAM! your mind springs into action and chases various sources to satisfy its craving. With a fresh upload of dopamine to start you buzzing – a compulsion bubbles to the surface zeroing in on finding a satisfying answer. Your spirit seeks fulfillment and revels in its latest pursuit. When an explanation arrives, fulfillment spurs waving the flag of newfound wisdom for all to see.
Curiosity feels briefly sated, yet quickly recycles into more curiosity. We hit the pavement again and peer into a vast territory called feedback. Humans’ thirst for inspiration is core to our existence, and we are relentless in our desire to satiate it.
Humanity + Curiosity Create Colorful Narratives
Curiosity fuels and shapes humanity’s expanding understanding of itself. A global driving force, curious imaginations deliver necessary and ever increasing sophisticated tools for humanity’s survival. Curiosity’s unique capacity to establish language, record history, digitize our stories and keep up with our accelerating unfolding – testifies to curiosity’s underlying involvement in our well being.
Curiosity gone rogue leads us to war, destruction and addiction. When we run too fast towards an answer and lose track of where and why we are heading to a destination, we are rejecting curiosity’s ability to help us. When we no longer distinguish between curiosity and greed, trouble is not far behind.
Searching for curiosity’s sweet spot
What happens when curiosity seems hidden or far away from our minds? Depending on how far we stretch its skin, curiosity has the capacity to lift us up to new heights of excitement or plunge us down into new lows of despair. During times of ongoing stress such as anxiety and uncertainty, we often fail to trust our natural instincts. We instead set our sights on crisis and fantasy – energies which lead to false hope and a distorted outlook.
When we polish the lens of our giant curiosity telescope. The wheels of curiosity begin to turn and off we go again into the vast uncharted land of imagination and dreams.
Implementing curiosity’s 4-point maintenance plan
It’s astounding to consider that every person on Earth is curious about something or someone. It’s equally astounding to think we hold the answer to someone’s question or even represent the very answer itself. Aside from individual curiosities, we possess collective curiosities. Curiosity is actually exploration to advance ourselves and others. Curiosity’s forward-propelling agenda promotes an advanced existence for all beings.
To prevent curiosity from slipping out of reach establish a working plan:
- Gather knowledge like a graceful prayerPrayer and curiosity go hand in hand. The elements of configuring (starting point), nudging (response) and implementing (closure) prayer allow it to move from a place of desperation and demand to authentic exploration and grace. Glimpses of grace in our heart makes the curious climb worth crossing.Try this: Write a prayer using these three elements.
- Celebrate curiosity in self and othersAsking questions of ourselves and others can be intimidating. Being around curious people can be fun or frustrating depending on mood. Another approach involves curiosity as play. If we value a broadening horizon, curiosity can show us how to get from here to there by randomly tossing around ideas and talking about dreams without attachment to a particular resolution.Try this: Alone or with a friend, write/talk about a topic for which you wish more insight. Brainstorm possible ways of discovering answers.
- Appreciate how curiosity possesses multiple voicesTo push the curiosity button means we trust in curiosity’s ability to open us to the unseen. To master curiosity means to accept answers which are different from past assumptions and patterns.Try this: Reflect on a time when you were curious about something that happened in your life. Did the answer come right away or years later? Did you even feel you got an answer at all? How did you walk away from the situation – fulfilled or empty?
- Clear lack of curiosity with Peace, Love and Joy
It’s important to learn when curiosity’s shadow side emerges. The energy of curiosity may be blocked when we enter into these behaviors/attitudes: self-centered, introverted, closed, disinterested, indifferent, lazy, bored and inner-badgering. With this negativity, it’s time to walk away and reconnect with curiosity.
Try this: Close your eyes. Imagine a snow globe in the center of your mind. Picture a scene or a word inside the snow globe. Shake the globe so the image/word disappears. Shake the globe one more time and place the word “curious” inside it. Open your eyes. Repeat the exercise daily until you notice a return of curiosity, a welcoming of insights and an opening to inspiration.