We’ve all heard the statement: curiosity killed the cat.
I’ve always been wondered about this, why did it kill the cat? What was the cat curious about? Silly things like that, but underneath it all was this question: Is curiosity dangerous?
Curiosity is the ability of a person to notice what is happening around and in them by asking questions without having the expectation that the questions will lead to a concrete solution.
I’ve come to notice that when I cut off curiosity from my emotional experiences, things build up and build up because I am simply too tired to analyze, label and categorize each emotion that passes through my heart and mind.
So I started being curious again and tried to be an observer instead of an analyst.
Dropped a lid for the 9,000th time today? I’m curious about how I feel. Store out of toilet paper again? I simply ask myself to be curious about my emotions.
What does this give me?
This helped me by giving a balanced view of my emotional life. There are absolutely times where I need to think critically about my emotions and there are also times where I need to simply let them come and pass while being curious about them.
It’s hard to do sometimes.
Why? Because sometimes we don’t want to know. It feels intimidating and even overwhelming.
When it feels overwhelming, this is a signal to you that it is important to be curious at that moment. Try not to judge or problem solve but instead, imagine your emotions as snowflakes, raindrops, whatever makes sense and simply let them fall around you.
Some snowflakes and raindrops will be big, others will be hardly noticeable.
Take time to validate the fact that you don’t want to feel the emotions or that it is overwhelming.
Just because something feels messy, doesn’t mean that you’re doing anything wrong!
Keep being curious, you never know what kind of relief you can find when you withhold judgment and a “fix it, get rid of it” mentality.
Please Note: If you or a loved one is experiencing a mental health emergency, call 911 or go to your nearest hospital for emergency services or the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988.