#127 – How will curiosity make you happier?

Read online

Curiosity stems from a desire to know. Judgment, on the other hand, comes from certainty; it assumes we know something well enough to take a fixed stance on it.

Like a toddler who's never tried a red lentil dal and yet insists she doesn't like it.

Curiosity and judgment can’t coexist. In a curious state of mind, judgment has no place – our minds can’t hold both at once. Either we know and have a stance, or we don’t and thus are open to discovery.

Adopting curiosity as our default mindset makes us more open, which is the first step towards acceptance, essential in turn for peace of mind.

Curiosity invites us to observe emotions we’d otherwise reject—fear, sadness, guilt. Because we want to understand what's going on inside us, we're telling our Ego to stand down, because we're not ready to take a stance yet. In effect, curiosity makes us suspend judgment.

This practice of curious acceptance leads to presence, by allowing us to sit with uncomfortable emotions without resistance. Instead of pushing feelings away, as the toddler would a spoonful of dal, we become interested in exploring them. This leads to a discovery crucial for growth: emotions won’t harm us, and it’s okay to feel them, even when they suck.

When did your mind shift once you got curious about a difficult circumstance?

Love,

Carolina