Curiosity has become one of my favourite emotions. It is an intrinsic drive to explore the world and seek knowledge. I think that harnessing our curiosity is one of the best ways to make life more exciting and enjoyable.
Unbridled curiosity motivated me a lot when I was younger. There was no hesitation to investigate any objects or things or people that looked interesting and relentlessly ask questions like 'what is that?' or 'why?'. If you look around, you can imagine exactly what it feels to lick any surface. This is because your toddler self was very busy sticking its tongue onto anything and everything, finding out what it tasted like.
The feeling is very pure. As we get older, we hold back because of fear of what others might think. But letting go of this and just allowing ourselves to look for answers to the questions that naturally arise within can help us find our inner child again. When I let myself get curious I can get into a flow state of research that melts time and space away. Nothing else is more important in that moment.
A great place I have been implementing this is in conversations. I have always been curious about other people because I think humans are endlessly interesting. Learning about another person's story and their thoughts and feelings in a more deliberate way has really improved the quality of my relationships. Asking follow up questions more is a very easy thing to do. Finding a conversation partner that is not afraid to keep exploring can be very rewarding.
But can curiosity go too far? What about 'curiosity killed the cat...'?
I think so. That isn't too say it is inherently bad, but unrestrained curiosity can be somewhat neurotic. I would say it crosses the line when you are trying to settle some discomfort with uncertainty instead of pursuing something out of pure interest. In my experience when you take a second to breathe and reflect you can realise you are in a despairing curious state over a more whimsical one. But it is easier said than done to be aware of this. I certainly find it difficult.
Technology and large tech firms have figured this out. With so much information within access its no surprise so many people can spend so long on the internet endlessly diving into rabbit holes of information. Lots of sites have endless amounts of content to keep our attention which is overwhelming. It is also very easy to get distracted now with so many links. Looking up a recipe for dinner could get sidetracked by a notification about the football scores which could turn into a spontaneous research session into the trip to South America your hometeam made which could turn into a history lesson about the Argentine Civil wars. So it can be challenging to surf the internet and focus our curiosity on a single topic.
I think that to make use of your curiosity and allow it to flourish, you should be giving space for your brain to observe the world and letting it guide you. So yes, sometimes in the form of that spontaneous impromptu Wikipedia deep research session, but also in our living breathing planet around us. Maybe you can take a different route back on your way home. Maybe you can spark a conversation with that person you keep seeing with the cool clothes. Or you could read on a subject you've always been interested in but never gotten around to taking a longer look at. So I am trying to more readily ask the questions that come to my head. Keeping things novel, is the spice of life.