Curiosity
“Never lose a holy curiosity.”
Practice Curiosity
Ask questions. Who lived here? When? Why?
Read and research history. www.historycolorado.org
Become unfamiliar with familiar places. Drive different roads. Walk different streets.
Consult a child. Ask what questions they have about the place you live.
The practice of curiosity is core to loving your neighbors and neighborhood. Curiosity is the root which leads to learning. Learning more about the people and place you call home.
When we visit new places, we see it with interest and intrigue. The challenge of the neighborhoods we live in is to see them with a renewed curiosity. G.K. Chesterton wrote, “Our perennial spiritual and psychological task is to look at things familiar until they become unfamiliar again.”
As children we are perpetually curious about places. They relentlessly ask, “Why?” Questions are at the core of practicing curiosity about place. Questions to ask about your place: Who lived here before? How is this place connected to places nearby? What don’t we know about this place? Why?
Curiosity about your place creates a common ground of conversations. Be curious with neighbors and local leaders. The more you practice curiosity, the more you encourage it in those around you. The technology and tools we have access to can provide an incredible amount of information with a simple search. The roots of learning and loving your place is practicing curiosity.
