The most powerful force

I believe that there are two primary forces in the world: love and fear.

Almost any other force falls under those two umbrellas.

One such force that you might not associate with love is curiosity.

Curiosity shares the same etymology as verbs like cure and to care. (credit: conversation with my father)

I bet you never thought that your curiosity could be a cure.

But that’s exactly what it does.

It connects you to others.

It brings healing to division.

It sets you free from the blame/shame cycle.

It can lead you out of false beliefs and into truth.

It can even lead you to discoveries that become life passions.

Curiosity a pre-requisite for another powerful force: empathy. You can’t have empathy without curiosity.

When you look at some of the biggest problems in the world—war, poverty, injustice, violence—imagine if we brought curiosity to the table.

Imagine what could be possible.

Photo by Nathan Cowley on Pexels

Curiosity is one of the most difficult things to practice, though, when we are under pressure or feeling threatened by another.

Our genetics cause us to fight, flee, or freeze.

You actually have to train yourself to stay curious in high-stakes, strong-emotions situations.

We think of hostage negotiators and mediators as having honed this ability.

But it is possible for you too.

It starts with an ability to manage where your attention goes.

When you aren’t being curious, your attention is always on yourself.

So Step 1 to practice curiosity: turn your attention OUT, onto the other person.

Step 2: ask a question.

That’s it, really.

Turn your attention out, and ask a question.

You can see that this is something you can hone and become adept at over time.

Curiosity doesn’t require you to feel a certain way. You just need to be able to take your attention off how you’re feeling, and focus on the other person and ask a question.

What is an area in your life that could use more curiosity? And how will you lean into that this week?

Love,

Audrey