The wife and 2 1/2 year old son of Caleb, one of the young men working on my house, came over to have lunch with him today. Logan, Caleb's son, was running all around exploring, asking about everything and continually saying "beautiful", "beautiful". This was as he was looking at dry wall hung on the walls and in nooks and crannies of the house.
It struck me again, how wonderful curiosity is. I think it is one of our greatest assets as human beings. It keeps us asking questions and learning new things. If we foster it throughout our whole lives, it propels us forward on an adventure of exploration and discovery. It challenges our assumptions and keeps us from getting calcified in our thinking. It enables us to expand our understanding of each other and the world.
Based on what we are learning about neuroscience, it seems to me that curiosity is a key ingredient in taking advantage of our brain's plasticity and our ongoing ability to lay down new neuro-nets. I also wonder if this might be a contributing factor to the avoidance of dementia as we age.
Because curiosity is a catalyst to expanding our learning, it fosters our life long ability to reinvent ourselves again and again, enabling us to grow into our own unlimited potential.
2 comments:
Patricia,
My son and 2 grandkids (age 3 & 4)were home last weekend and I was struck by their innate curiosity about everything. I like that you see the value (wisdom?) of encouraging our own curiosity.
I'm anxious to read more.
Patricia,
You are so right and love your visual of "calcified". When we are curious we are not 'calcified' but flexible and maleable and changeable!
Opening up lots of possibilities instead of locking ourselves off.
So maybe we should find one thing a day to be curious about!
great post,
sharon
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