Page 66 - TA Magazine Winter 2022

TRUS TING CURIO SITY
I turned around and was faced by my defiant 10 year old, feet planted in a
rebellious standstill on the trail behind me.
“Find our own path?
What’s wrong with this trail?”
“It’s boring.
If we keep going, can we at least agree to make a new path,
through the bushes, on the way down?”
My mind raced to consider the risks of his spontaneous approach: this included how little
daylight we had left, the inevitable leg scrapes from the bushes, and a laptop spilling over
with emails at home.
There were a million and one reasons to talk him out of this suggestion that we make our
own path. But once back to the present moment, I realized there wasn’t really any major
reason to not say yes. So what if we get a few leg scratches? The emails can wait. And who
cares if we eat dinner a little late tonight?
22 So after a pause, I smiled and embraced a chance to explore the unknown with my son.
Y ANDERSON WINTER 20 As we age and maybe grow more skeptical of the world,
“Sure, kiddo. We can make a new path on the way down,” I told him. We did. As expected,
we got some scrapes and bumps and we had to rely on my phone light to find our way home
hurt from laughing so hard.
62 in the dark. But amongst all this, something special happened: the next day, our stomachs
how do we keep our natural curiosity alive?
route home, I almost missed the opportunity to play and discover in the woods with my
son. The chance to do something new. I almost let my mind, not my heart, navigate our
C By allowing my mind and assumptions of calamity to tempt me to take a known and safe
TRA day, our time together. We can tune into it to discern whether we should go for something new, embark on an ad- TRA
Keeping our childlike curiosity alive allows us to be open to the magic of life. This, in turn,
allows us to touch and serve others along the way. So when opportunities to go off the beat-
en path arrive, we must ask ourselves, What can we do to stay open to new experiences, live
more from our hearts and less from our heads, all the while trusting that we will be okay? of things, including those that could serve us magnificently. We allow our curiosity to wane
Age Quod Agis, Do What You Are Doing
To be curious we need to be truly present. We need to have the mind space to notice oppor-
tunities to try something new and earnestly consider them. to listen to ourselves with discernment. Is this right? Is this safe? Is this the right way for me?
This isn’t always easy, what with our busy lives and the familiar tendency to cling to a
predictable routine.
I’ve considered this extensively. A first step might be to live more in the moment and notice
the fullness of any experience. This can be sitting with a mug of tea and asking yourself,
What do I smell? What do I hear? How does my spine feel at this minute, tight or at ease?).
Or welcoming curious thoughts while in line at the grocery store. (I can still feel the heat of
the sunshine on the apples I pulled off of the outdoor display as I place them on the check-
out belt. The logo tagged to the broccoli tells me it was grown over the hill at the nearby
Zen Center gardens. The sigh of the woman behind me tells me she might be in a bigger
rush than me.)
If we can be present and do what we are doing, or age quod agis, as it’s said in Latin, each
moment is a gift. By leading with openness and curiosity, we allow ourselves to be available
to new opportunities.
Embracing a Humble Mindset
As we navigate through life, a humble mindset can also support living more like our inner
child. There is so much I don’t yet know. I am just a small being in a sea of activity and
wisdom. What can I learn today? In accepting that we are “forever new beings” with a ca-
pacity to evolve and grow in even the most mundane of circumstances, we become students
of life. When we meet each minute with an open heart and curious mind, curiosity becomes
inevitable.
Listen to Yourself
You might be asking, but what about the dangers of new things? What 22
if we scraped our knees as kids to carefully dodging any potential hurt as Y ANDERSON WINTER 20
awareness of what might harm us only grows. We went from not caring
about the risk that we will be hurt or taken advantage of? As we age, our 63
adults. If we can trust that voice within ourselves, the possibilities are end-
from our intuitive guidance.
We all come into this life with a gift of our own intuition, our gut feeling, a guide of sorts.
less. What we are open to often grows because we can discern reflexive fear C
venture with some risk, or pause and wait for safer, more secure conditions.
As the years pass, we often turn the volume of that voice down and let our busy (and often
restrictive minds) take the driver’s seat. This makes us more cynical and limited to all kinds
as we dismiss newness altogether for what might look or feel like a safer path.
There are always times to move through a fear as a step forward in our growth. But if we are
truly embracing the highs and lows of a life guided by openness to adventure, we also need
Often, with a pause, we can rest with peace in our intuitive answer and still explore, adven-
ture, and tap into the unknowns that may only be discoverable with our curiosity at the helm.
Whether it’s a new career twist, an emergent relationship, or a simple walk in the woods
with a child, we can embrace the wonder of our expanding world with our own awareness.
When we are present, humble, and truly listen to ourselves, a universe of opportunity re-
veals itself to a curious being with a wise heart—even if that means getting lost in the woods
from time to time. TA