Curiosity … The Great Revealer

Becoming curious is one of our greatest spiritual practices. It opens the stuffy mind to let a soft gentle breeze in. Once open; Spirit has a chance to direct us.

I saw a friend post the book cover Outrageous Openness on her Facebook page. I asked myself (curious) if I ought to pursue this title and my answer was YES. The author shares a practice she used when forgiving someone who stole money from her. I have done this practice for twenty minutes each day, now for ten days. I left in the reference to money because it feels good, and I could change the words to reinforce Love or Peace or whatever quality I desire to deepen. As I do this practice I bring up the names of friends, family, and perceived foes and I end up feeling as though I have an emotional facial complete with extractions and buffing. Here it is, in case you too want to join in on this practice:

Let me release my karma with (name) by forgiving (him/her) and myself.
Free me from anger and resentment.
You (God) alone are my complete Source for abundance.
My finances are fully wrapped in Divine Order.

Curiosity has the power to change judgment into Grace. I hired a new pool company this summer and the first time out they cleaned my pool’s filter and put the casing on incorrectly. This resulted in having the filter cover blow off and crack the plastic piping. I woke up the following morning to an empty swimming pool and a drowning back yard with a guest coming in same day for the weekend. I had several choices on how to respond to this disaster. I chose curiosity and Grace. Coming from this open-hearted space the company could not have been more responsive and thorough. They have grown into my favorite service company to date. I am well aware that I had the power to judge, shut down and attack and chose a higher strategy that served all of us.

Recently I had a conversation with an acquaintance who was positioning himself for the game of right and wrong making. I paused. Instead of engaging in a stand off of opinion, I became curious and began to ask questions about the intention of our conversation. “I really like you and want to understand you,” I said. “What do you want out of this conversation?” The energy shifted. From there we became curious about points of view while remaining tethered to an underlying respect of one another.

This is what I know about curiosity:

• It expands a point of view,
• It can build a bridge between differences,
• It can change judgement of another into understanding,
• It is a gateway to Grace,
• It is fun, light, and exploratory,
• It cultivates a spaciousness that allows The Divine in,
• It leads to (scientific) discovery,
• Our brain releases dopamine from the learning process, and it feels good,
• Research shows curious people are healthier and happier,

This morning as I contemplated “curiosity,” the saying “curiosity killed the cat” popped into my mind. So, I researched its origin. The saying originated was from a play in 1598 and the saying was “care killed the cat.” Care, in 1598, meant worry and sorrow. Meaning, a cat has 9 lives and those lives can be cut short through worry and sorrow (not curiosity).

Blessings,