There’s a saying about warning a child not to touch a stove or they will get burned, but there is a very distinct memory that I have from my childhood where I actually reached out and touched a hot stove (yes I was one of those.) I remember seeing the stove eye glowing orange and I walked over and reached up to touch it with my pinky, and I’m sure you can guess the rest. I use that physical experience as an analogy to remind myself of the curiosity that it took to do something like that and of the indifference that the experiences of the world have toward whatever pain I might experience as a result of my curiosity. There are a lot of experiences in life similar to the stove example where I want to know why or how. And sometimes it hurts to learn, and sometimes it doesn’t. I’m going somewhere with this so stick with me.

Pain can cause us to shut off our curiosity. When I burned my finger it would’ve been very easy to say “I’m never touching anything again.” How sad that would’ve been for me if I allowed that to happen. Think of the experiences I would’ve missed out on if I had gone to that extreme. Instead I added a hot stove to my list of things to not touch and I kept being curious. There are so many things in life that can make us turn off our curiosity; Physical pain like breaking a bone, emotional pain like heartbreak, mental pain like stress. These types of things can easily make us say “I’m never dealing with _______ again". But how sad our lives would be if we were to starve ourselves of human experience for the sake of comfort. Imagine the things you wouldn’t have experienced if you let the pain of an isolated event kill your curiosity. Imagine the things you’re missing out on if you’re letting fear of pain keep you from being curious now.

I’m learning how to approach my own emotions with curiosity instead of animosity. When I get particularly angry I’m learning how to ask myself “Why am I triggered by this? Is there a wound that I am unaware of?” and 9/10 there is. When I get stressed I am learning how to ask myself “What else could I do right now instead of thinking so hard” and the answer is usually sitting still and becoming present. I’m learning that directing “why” and “how” toward myself in a loving way is the recipe for restoring real childlike curiosity. How can you try that in your life? Or if you are; feel free to share your method.

Last week we hit 100+ Subscribers in the community, and this week we're nearly at 200 😮. As promised, here are some encouraging thoughts from some of our community! Thanks for sharing!

Going forward, I’ll be adding a link to a short feedback form at the end of each newsletter — I’d love to hear your thoughts!
Also, I’ve had a few people ask how they can support the work I’m doing. While I don’t have any merch just yet, I’ll be including a link for anyone who’d like to contribute with a donation. Your support truly means a lot!