Inspired Deep Curiosity
Reflection #50
This article originally appeared on my personal blog, Clinsights, here.
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Curiosity, of the type I call Inspired Deep Curiosity (as opposed to shallow, follow pointless rabbit holes curiosity), I realize, increasingly, is a divine gift. This feeling comes from a mysterious force I call The Divine Force. I don’t know what this force is - perhaps it is simply one’s subconscious. Or perhaps, since time is an illusion, it is your future self whispering to you. Maybe it is something truly divine. Wherever these feelings and ideas come from, these deep yearnings are breadcrumbs in the forest of life, calling out to you, whispering in your ear, creating in you a subtle sense of anxiety if you ignore them and a feeling of rightness when you listen. So follow them, for they will lead you to the path of meaning - the path of the true fulfillment of your Self.
When you tread the path of your inspired deep curiosity, when you do the thing that you yearn to do, when you do that which only you can do...that is where you will be of most service to the world, for that is why you feel an intense magnetic pull to do it. That is why you are here.
One of my core beliefs is that if you are radically self-indulgent then what you feel called to do is actually of service to the world." - Devin Martin [source]
To pick up on these clues, you must stop distracting yourself and and listen to your deepest self. Stop scrolling social media and turn off the TV! Most people experience a small version of this divine whisper when they have great ideas pop into their heads as they take a shower. For many of us in modern society, a shower is the only time we aren’t staring at a screen! Don’t do that! Set aside some time for reflection, for daydreaming, for meditation, or for simply sitting outside and listening to the birds. The art of leisure is a lost art indeed - and one that desperately needs a revival!
When you listen to your deep curiosities, starting paying attention as you go about your regular life- You will start to notice synchronicities. “Non-believers” call synchronicities coincidences. That is fine. It doesn't matter what you call them. They will appear either way.
Here’s an example: this idea of inspired deep curiosity has been fermenting in the back of my mind for a while, perhaps a month or two, and the idea has been growing in clarity as it ripens. And, just in the past couple of weeks, I've noticed a couple of “synchronicities” first hand. Friday night, a couple of weeks ago, we went out with some friends and, as we all piled into her sport SUV, one of her audible books started playing and it was a book espousing the importance of curiosity in reaching our full potential. (The book is called Hidden Potential by Adam Grant. I've not read the book, but it sounds like the same ideas I'm playing with.) A few days later, I came across the ideas of Tom Morgan on his Substack publication, What’s Important (which I highly recommend). Tom’s writings might be summed up by a quote from The Mystery of Curiosity where he says, “If I could have any contribution to the world, it would be to make people trust the power of their own curiosity a little more.”
“If I could have any contribution to the world, it would be to make people trust the power of their own curiosity a little more.” - Tom Morgan
By the way, if you don't stop and listen to this whisper, you will likely still feel some level of discontent - some level of suffering. This deep discontent is your subconscious, which knows intimately that you are not living up to your full potential.
So, where does deep inspired curiosity come from? For that matter, where does creativity come from? We don't actually have the answers to those questions. The curiosity could be something in your subconscious. Perhaps there is a long-neglected path that you have suppressed while you attended to the practical aspects of your life. It's a hard pill to swallow if you consciously long to be an artist while having to pay the bills being a spreadsheet jockey. So perhaps these feelings have been repressed and resurface later as curiosity or creativity. And, there are those who proffer more outlandish theories…
We know from Einstein that Space and Time are really one thing known as Space-Time. We don't live in a three dimensional universe that has the steady beat of a background clock which progresses from past to future. We live in a four dimensional universe in which we, humans, perceive the fourth dimension as the passage of time. Time, as we experience it, is an illusion. That is a scientific fact, and, if you want to have your mind blown, go watch some of Carl Rovelli's lectures on Youtube, like this one. Everything you thought you knew about time will be obliterated.
In any case, this means, according to relativity, that the distinction between past, present and future isn't so clear cut. What is true is that for your whole life, you possess some consistent level of awareness. Is it possible that awareness can subtly cross time and space and send your present self a message? Perhaps these sparks of curiosity are your future or past self signaling you in some way, after all, if time is an illusion, all of your awareness might actually be “nearby” temporally. Who knows? Your future self may subconsciously send you signals to nudge you onto the right path. Or, maybe your past self sends signals to nudge you onto a path that will avoid regrets. I don't know.
But, what I do know is that people who have had the bravery to follow their deep inspired curiosity, and who eventually did take a leap of faith and dive deeply into it, are rarely regretful that they did so.
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