Curiosity
“When
you're curious, you find a lot of interesting things to do.”
Walt
Disney
Do you have a curious
mind? I have decided that being naturally curious is equal parts
blessing and curse. It drives you, keeps you seeking, and trying, and
experimenting, and asking questions. You learn a lot—most of it
correct. As children, we are both curious and unafraid. We delve into
everything, stick our fingers into anything, and taste and smell and
pull apart whatever our hands can find. It's how we learn, and if we
aren't allowed to do this, we don't learn. Having a curious mind and
being encouraged to experiment is crucial to building and augmenting
brain pathways. When we aren't allowed to do that—because we might
get dirty, or we might do something that has the potential to harm
us—we may be clean and safe, but we are cutting off the possibility
for experiential learning. We are limiting our access to first-hand knowledge.
Children ask a billion
questions. Why, what, who, where, how? They expect answers, and they
don't stop asking questions even when they get answers. Active
learning can drive their adults crazy, but young children are in the
most active stage of brain development, and it's their job to ask
questions. Some of us never lose that level of curiosity. We just
keep asking questions, experimenting, getting dirty and doing
potentially risky things. We tend to ask personal questions, and
probe other people for clues. Not surprisingly, they may see this as
intrusive, invasive, none of our business—and often, they are
right. It's good to learn what is and what isn't an acceptable
question—especially with someone you don't know very well.
Curiosity is the ground
floor of both science and creativity. It is what every discovery in
the world has been produced by. Having a curious mind is necessary to
make something that has never been made before; to allow an idea to
percolate until it becomes a reality. It is also essential to human
spiritual and emotional maturity. We can accept answers from outside
ourselves as valid, and sometimes they are, but that is also the
easiest way to be manipulated. When we are incurious, we are easy
targets for all sorts of nefarious scams. It is important to do our
work, not just in gathering information, but also in developing our
own answers. We evolve spiritually by delving, and investigating, and
sticking our noses into new ideas about spirituality. We ask
questions, and listen to answers, and then decide for ourselves.
Doing this, and taking to heart what we learn, helps us to become
more open-minded, less judgmental, and less assured of our
“rightness.” Instead of closing our minds, and becoming dogmatic,
it opens our minds to possibilities, potential and the full array of
options. And the good news is, there is always more to learn. So, go
out there today and be curious!
In the Spirit,
Jane
No comments:
Post a Comment