Curiosity and Wonder
The Life Leaders Digest
ONTOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE - MOOD - EMBRACING UNCERTAINTY
It is through the mood of wondering what could or should be, or what we could or should do that enables us to accept the uncertainties and embrace the mysteries of life. It is in this mood that we are prepared to think creatively, take a calculated risk and remain open to our emotional nature. To wonder is to be fascinated with what is going on around us and the inherent joy and privilege of being conscious of it. As Martin Heidegger observed that wonder emerges "when we take a rest and care subsides into circumspection".
To feel secure we need a strong sense of who we are and what we are capable of should the situation demand it. We seem to know our capacity to love, to be resilient when under threat and to appreciate the value of other people and the natural world. Curiosity and wonder are linked because they both ask us to care about abd be inquisitive about life and living things. It requires and strong desire to know and understand for ourselves. We become absorbed in the experience become open to whatever might happen and then reflect on it to find meaning in it. This is more the behaviour of an octopus than a hedgehog. We become less self-conscious and more connected with the world around us.
In a mood of wonder we become powerful observers of people, events, objects, ideas, history, stories and context. For this mood state to develop we have to accept uncertainty and feel a desire to explore, discover and experiments to see what happens if . . . . and be ready to engage and learn from personal experience - not second-hand.
A mood of wonder also generates a mood of optimism which is reflected in what we listen for and how we speak to others and ourselves internally. As a result you are able to stay interested when you encounter something you are unfamiliar with. You give others more time to explain themselves, you ask inquiring questions to help them explain their thinking more deeply. From a personal learning perspective we learn to explore our own concerns, fears or anxieties at a deeper level so we can understand what is causing us to be the way we are and what we can do to change through more effective action. This is not always easy as uncertainty can make us feel more vulnerable and we want to get back in control and remove the fear of not knowing. This leads us into quick fix solutions, that get in the way of doing the right think that will make a real difference. We experience confusion when we have not accepted the existence of uncertainty and embraced it from a mood of wonder rather than anxietyIt was Socrates who observed that "Wonder is the foundation of possibility". In today's world, which is crying out for innovation and creative responses to global challenges, a mood of wonder and curiosity is urgently needed to enhance the quality of the conversations between different interest groups. Openly expressed ideas can lead to new ideas that feed new opportunities for cooperation. The use of Open Space Technology and other structures to stimulate our collective intelligence starts from a desire to wonder together about what could be and not jump to solutions before the possibilities have been actively explored. As Alan Sieler observed that "acceptance and wonder enable us to embrace the actuality of the world" so we don't get "stuck in what all too often is the toxicity of negativity." It seems that acceptance and wonder are invaluable resources for adapting to uncertainty, where situations are bewildering, chaotic or continuously changing. They enable us to "deal with breakdowns and create a life with meaning and fulfillment".
