“What does it mean?”

My typical question that I ask of almost everything- every scenario, message, interaction, even my own thoughts….

“What does it mean?”

And variations of that question arise throughout my day. I’m naturally curious, about SO much. I want to understand people, their thoughts, their actions. I want to understand how things work. I want to know how I come across to others. I want to know if the things I communicate make sense to others. I want to know how a piece of art speaks to someone- to understand our differences. So much of what I yearn for has to do with understanding myself and others better. Getting a handle on how the world works and how people operate.

There is nothing wrong with a healthy dose of curiosity. This is how we get new inventions, creative solutions, artwork, and how we grow.

What I have continued to learn in my own journey though… Curiosity doesn’t always lead to answers.

Sometimes curiosity leads to more questions. Often I find that there is no answer to some of my hardest questions… and it’s up to me to make peace with / live with that.

Examples of this include things I explore within my faith journey. I don’t always know what Gods answers are to the difficult things I go through, and if I did I guess I’d question if I was a god myself. This also includes questions I ask about why people engage in certain behaviors or sometimes even when people hold different ways of thought than I do. I can’t always understand…. And learning that that is ok can be a process.

For example, I 100% do not think racism is acceptable or ok. There are people in the world who are racist. I do not and may never understand their thought process or their hate. It is not ok to be racist, but I do have to acknowledge that people like that exist and for my own peace I have to be ok with not being able to understand that way of thought.

This doesn’t mean I still can’t challenge that process of thought in someone else, or that I have to accept that the world holds racist people. No, I want to see that change. But I can acknowledge that they exist with a way of thought that I disagree with.

Anyway, I’m rambling. I don’t necessarily have a point with this post today. I just wanted to reflect on curiosity.

What does it look like to be curious in your life? I’d love to hear about that. Leave a comment with your thoughts!