I admit that I am curious. In fact, I kind of like that I am. I am curious about many things: my garden and the gardens of friends, the shape of the edge of water, the feel of my cup of tea. I am especially curious about people. I watch them, I absorb them as they sit down on the bus, I smile as I watch them crowd around my pond searching for elusive fish.
It is the kind of curiosity that draws me into the kind of open-hearted awareness I increasingly experience. This combination of curiosity and awareness is something I commonly experience with people, plants and rocks. People are at the top of my list.
I sat last evening with a lovely friend in a quiet sidewalk cafe in St. Paul, and I was swept here and there with curiosity as I listened to her. It became such a pleasant, aware time. Earlier, I sat in a concert hall and was curious about a piece of music I had never heard before. My curiosity allowed me to be transformed by a weaving disharmony that carried me through a labyrinth of new musical awareness. It was thrilling.
I am aware that I routinely invite others into the world of curiosity. I encourage them to be curious about me as I am about them. I know that this may have some unfavorable aspects of ego-building in it. But I am also inviting them into a relationship built on curiosity and awareness, theirs and mine. I too am curious and want them to be with me.
It is a dance of curiosity and awareness. It is a dance that always requires a partner, whether it be a person, plant or rock. We lean toward one another in an exchange of curiosity that easily morphs into awareness.
I have often encouraged my son to be curious, especially when I hear something like, “I don’t care about that.” I am myself learning the meaning of my own words. I don’t think I fully understood the invitation I was offering and promoting.
I encourage others to be curious about many wonderful things: school, retirement, gardening, friends, the world. I often remind myself that it is time for me to be mindful. How much more exciting, energizing and effective to remind myself to be curious.