When I was younger I was curious, but in my teenage years my curiosity changed. I was more curious about boys and my peers and curious about how I could fit in with my peer group, my curiosity was less about the world and life and more about how to belong in life.
Now my curiosity is huge!
Without curiosity, I feel we live a half life, when we stop being curious we stop living. I have a neighbour who has stopped being ‘life’ curious, instead she chooses to watch loud obnoxious talk shows all day long, her curiosity does not connect to life, but with drama and I wonder is she curious or simply bored?
We are all naturally curious and the more curious we become the more life takes on a deeper meaning.
In 1999 my curiosity began to peak. I had spent most of my teen years and early twenties in a drunken stupor, binge drinking and basically I got very lost. Because of low self esteem I used alchohol to numb my anxiety and to help me fit in. Most of my friends got drunk a lot and so did I. I was known as ‘WOAH KELLY’ because I made people laugh and everyone enjoyed my company a lot when I was drunk, but I paid a price for my drunken days. I lost my connection to who I really was and beneath the alcohol was a shy quiet woman who had deeply introspective thoughts that went against the grain of life.
In 1999 I travelled to Australia alone for a year backpacking and working there and in 2000 my spiritual awakening happened. I was introduced to the world of spirit, of mediumship, of there being a far bigger world than I had ever thought possible. I had been going through the motions in life, fitting in and feeling quite lost in my place in this world. I felt lacked a sense of faith and belief.
After meeting a lady called Melinda who connected with the angels and did a healing called Reiki, my eyes were opened wide and I became like a child again. I spent time reading, eating up all knowledge I could find on the meaning of life and I was invigorated and I gave up alcohol for some time.
Curiosity became my saving grace.
“Let go of certainty. The opposite isn’t uncertainty. It’s openness, curiosity and a willingness to embrace paradox, rather than choose up sides. The ultimate challenge is to accept ourselves exactly as we are, but never stop trying to learn and grow.”
— Tony Schwartz
When we are curious about life we are alive, when we are curious life is filled with possibility!
We can be curious about the meaning of life or curious on how to speak a new language, learn to cook, paint, dance… As long as we are curious life expands and grows within us and all around.
In the book Alice in Wonderland, Alice follows her curiosity to a magical land filled with fantastical characters and strange goings on. She shrinks, she grows, she explores and walks into the grand unknown. She embraces fear and she loves. Curiosity is for the explorer of this world, boredom is when we stop being curious when we keep doing the same old things and expect a different result. In my post B is for BOREDOM I spoke about how when we are present with even menial tasks they take on a new texture and new experience. When we become curious about the nature of reality our consciousness expands and we begin to recognise and know who we truly are.
Being in the present moment naturally awakens deeper curiosity, we begin to see those things we never saw before. For example I love photography, I am an amateur not an expert, but I love nothing more than wandering into nature on my own and taking photos with my compact digital camera. I look close up at the plants, the insects and the world. Being curious I see through my eyes and the lens of my camera the beauty in the ordinary, even a brick wall or a pile of cow manure can take on a new depth that many would not see.
So many people look straight ahead, they are walking to get through the next door, they miss out on what is above them, around them or beneath them, most of all they miss what is within them.
Develop your curiosity and like Alice your world will change and take on a new kind of magic.
“Life was meant to be lived, and curiosity must be kept alive. One must never, for whatever reason, turn his back on life.”
— Eleanor Roosevelt
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Kelly Martin, author of ‘When Everyone Shines But You’ is a dedicated writer and blogger who fearlessly explores life’s deepest questions. Faced with a decade of profound anxiety and grief following the loss of her father and her best friend Michael, Kelly embarked on a transformative journey guided by mindfulness, and she hasn’t looked back since. Through her insightful writing, engaging podcasts, and inspiring You Tube channel Kelly empowers others to unearth the hidden treasures within their pain, embracing the profound truth that they are ‘enough’ exactly as they are.
