An open mind leaves room for a bigger life.
We talk about curiosity as if we’ve misplaced it. As if somewhere along the way we set it down, and now we need to remember where we left it.
Maybe we simply stopped giving our curious nature something to do.
When we’re young, life keeps putting us in unfamiliar situations. New places. New people. Experiences where we don’t know what happens next. We ask questions because we don’t have the answers yet.
As we get older, we’ve built a lifetime of experience, and take pride in what we know. There’s value in that experience. But when knowing becomes part of our identity, being a beginner feels uncomfortable. We start avoiding situations where we might struggle, get something wrong, or look foolish.
Little by little, we choose what we know over what we might discover. Curiosity gets sidelined by our need to be right.
I know this doesn’t describe everyone. But I’m struck by how many people my age seem certain they know how everything will turn out. Before you’ve even tried something, they’re ready to tell you why it won’t work.
Sometimes, those same people have built lives with very little room for the unfamiliar. Their routines offer comfort, but few chances to test their assumptions, be surprised, or discover something they hadn’t considered.
I understand wanting to protect what we’ve built. But what do we give up when we become more interested in defending what we know than discovering what we don’t?
I want my experience to give me the confidence to explore. To be a beginner again. To try something without needing to know the outcome, and I’m OK with being wrong or failing.
I still have things to find out. And “I don’t know yet” seems like a good place to begin.
