Curiosity Bootcamp
Last week I practiced the art of BEING CURIOUS. I practiced for eight days straight - consider it a curiosity bootcamp. Fortunately, I had two teachers with me who are renowned experts in the curiosity arena - my four year old son Charlie, and my 18-month old son Henry.
My family and I vacationed on Cape Cod for the week. Day one of any beach vacation with two toddlers can be considered a s*&@ show ... packing the cooler, the sunblock, the towels, the wipes, the chairs, the sand toys, the water bottles, the swim diapers - the list goes on and on.
So there I am sweating and panting, attempting to get everyone in the car while my boys are crouched down in the driveway excitedly watching a potato bug the size of an ant. They were fascinated. No sooner do I get them directionally correct that they then find a shell being swarmed by baby ants - mind blowing stuff to them! We are now inches from the car and they see a bee pollinating the hydrangeas. These wonders ultimately delayed us leaving for the beach by 10+ minutes, and by the time we left I was ready to give up.
Then it hit me. Not only was I NOT being curious, but I was attempting to squelch the curiosity within my boys as well. Curiosity is the key to unlocking brand new learning, discoveries and opportunities. It is the first step in venturing into "what we don't know that we don't know". And one thing I've noticed over these years, for many of us (myself included), we have let our curiosity atrophy and wither away. Many of us are just not curious anymore. We walk through life either acting like we know everything, or with tunnel vision missing all of the magic that constantly occurs around us.
This is when my curiosity bootcamp really began. After that "ah ha" moment, I chose to follow the lead of my toddler teachers. Charlie and Henry became my curiosity coaches. Over the course of the week we discovered sand crabs, ocean snails, birds of all shapes, sizes, and colors, airplanes that the boys pointed at in awe, and more bugs than I had ever wished to encounter. We picked raspberries, examined the color and texture of rocks and shells we found, and swayed in the rocking chairs on the front porch while watching bunnies dart around my dad's apple trees.
It was a week of getting reacquainted with the power of curiosity. Once I had settled into being curious with my boys, it gifted me the joys of being truly present in the moment. No longer was I rushing to get the car packed, or to get to my next task or milestone. The old Allie who would say "put the freaking bug down, and just get in the car" was gone.
By leaning into my curiosity, I was then present and connected with my family. My boys received the gift of being heard and seen, and I received the gift of slowing down and being truly in the moment. And boy did I need to slow down!
So, is it time for you to enroll in your own "curiosity bootcamp"? When was the last time that you were TRULY curious? What is it that you don't even know that you don't even know? How can you go into your day being even just 5% more curious than yesterday? What might this shift unlock inside of you?
Courage always,
p.s. Here's a picture of Charlie & Henry finding yet another potato bug - Charlie demanding I stop and look, and Henry expressing his "shock and awe".
