Be Curious Instead of Afraid
- Pathways of Possibility
- 5 days ago
- 2 min read
Most of us are afraid at one time or another. Some of these fears are natural for our survival (for instance, when encountering a grizzly bear in the woods) while others are not. Here Dana Hoffer proposes taking a new approach to being afraid.
When my little son was three years old, he suddenly began asking me to accompany him to his room at night, and to come with him into the bathroom if the light wasn't on. A little investigation revealed the reason: He was afraid of witches.
In the days that followed, he kept asking me to find and show him pictures of witches. He wanted to see them all: scary witches, friendly witches, witches riding broomsticks, witches peering out of a cabin window in the forest.
One day I asked him, "Why do you keep wanting to see pictures of witches?"
His answer amazed me:
"I used to be afraid of witches. But now I prefer to be curious about them instead of being afraid."
I thought a great deal about this idea—choosing curiosity over fear. Life on Earth in the early twenty-first century can be deeply frightening, despite all the safety nets science and medicine try to provide. Uncertainty and helplessness seem woven into our daily lives. Everything can change in an instant—and not always in the direction we hoped.
But perhaps this is the very approach I want to adopt: To be curious about life instead of fearful about it. To train myself to read between the lines, to listen for the sounds between the sounds. To notice what is happening in worlds often hidden from our eyes—the worlds that may, in fact, matter most.
And something unexpected happens when we live this way:
When we take an interest in life, life begins to take an interest in us.
If you enjoyed this article from Dana, you may also want to read her writing "The Permeating Future."
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