I love curiosity

We all have addictions, we may not recognise them as this. For me and for many people I know, a good example is checking my emails or Facebook on my phone. As soon as a little bit of boredom or discomfort kicks in... out comes the phone. One definition of an addiction is something that has control over us, some behaviour that makes us change our course in the day. We think "i'll just drop by that store on the way home, it's not much of a detour" Or you could define it as something you simply feel compelled to do.

I certainly don't want to sound like I am judging addictions... They are a way that some part of us uses to manage our experience. They are an attempt to feel good again (even if it is harmful to our body). And... somewhere we know they are not good for us. And I want to say here, that just because we use Facebook or enjoy a glass of wine, this does not mean we are addicted!

And it seems that modern humans are not very well equipped to deal with stress and discomfort, and life is just full of possibilities to move away from uncomfortable experience!

So what can we do?

Be curious. I love curiosity. It is embedded in Focusing and in Mindfulness (and many other approaches) When I have some access to curiosity, I feel I am having a good day! I hope to develop enough curiosity to even face my own death experience with it.. could I be curious about that?

I stumbled upon this TED talk recently and wanted to share it on my blog.

https://www.ted.com/talks/judson_brewer_a_simple_way_to_break_a_bad_habit/transcript?language=en#t-550590

The speaker really brings alive the power of curiosity when working with habits. And he brings in some helpful neuroscience to back it up. I know, yet another link to look at and distract you from your work!... but it's only 8 minutes long.

This section struck me "when we get curious, we step out of our old, fear-based, reactive habit patterns, and we step into being". Wonderful.

I love it that he invites people not to stop the habit, but simply be curious about what it is actually like in the present to live your habit. Take curiosity to that!

Of course, taking curiosity to anything can be at times extremely challenging and is only part of what we need. It is though, in my experience, as essential aspect of working with addictions...

It starts with curiosity.
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