Curiosity..

Now, that’s a big one!

I always have a flavor for the season when a new realization strikes and suddenly many things I previously felt strongly about without fully knowing why make sense. And the latest big one is curiosity..

I’ve realized that I really vibe with curious people. And I’m a curious prick.. I like to understand the ‘why‘ behind things, I don’t really mind saying ‘I have no idea what you are talking about‘ rather than potentially save face and nod along and I don’t really mind asking ‘stupid‘ questions so long as my curiosity is satiated. Now, as we grow, it’s important this is merged with tact (atleast, so I’ve heard), but I still feel inherent curiosity is a big one.

I don’t particularly like hearing the ‘that’s how things work here‘ or ‘that’s how it’s always been‘ or even a point of view that strikes me as parroted. It need not always be like that and I feel the ones who change things are the ones who keep asking ‘why‘ and ‘why not‘..

Anyway, my point is that we are all born with innate curiosity. Somewhere down the line this is quashed by some extremely insecure person who typically got annoyed – sometimes this was a teacher who stamped any questions out, or sometimes it was a relative who just asked us to shut up when we asked too many questions, and we did.. except we shut up forever.

And then, there might also have been people around us who encouraged us to ask questions all the time, kept that curiosity alive. For some, we re-discover that curiosity as we work or live with people who like that intellectual challenge that comes with asking questions rather than discuss events or other people because when we question, we invariably question opinions and ideas. An opinion or idea often has an origin in the most unlikeliest of places and that makes the journey of exploration even more rewarding because we often truly understand what shapes people we know and most importantly, what shapes ourselves.

Also because, discussing ideas and opinions and being open to those of others is just one step away from reflection and learning..

From my Harry Potter days, one of the big themes I remember from the book is that ‘the biggest mistakes adults make is that they forget what it is to be kids‘. They forget that youth, energy and most importantly, that curiosity and innate sense of adventure that enables youth to challenge the status quo..

Let’s not let that die.. We don’t need to have extremely high IQ’s or be the most brilliant analytical thinkers – we just need to get into the habit of questioning why things are the way they are, why we do what we do.. and that would be a start.. to a new journey of learning!

Here’s to that..