A Curious Cure
Did you know that the words “cure” and “curious” come from the same root word? There’s a deep lesson hiding in that link, one that we’re going to unpack together here. As children we engage with curiosity in an easy, unforced way. It just happens! (Think of the four year old who follows a parent around asking relentless “why” questions all day long.) Something often shifts though as we enter adolescence and adulthood. We get the message from our peers that curiosity isn’t cool so we resist expressing it. We don’t raise our hand in class. We don’t ask questions. Or maybe we get so busy that we forget to include any time or space for curiosity, literally elbowing it out of our productive lives. Without evening noticing it, our eyes lose their sparkle and we walk right past things that would have intrigued us once upon a time.
In the late 1800’s, philosopher and psychologist, William James, defined two types of attention: directed attention and fascination (also referred to as involuntary attention). Basically, the first form of attention is where we make a choice to focus on something, and the second is where we are drawn toward something without even trying. Eighty years later, in the 1970’s, a wife and husband team of environmental psychologists began a nine year study of participants in wilderness programs for the U.S. Forest Service. They found that across the board, men and women who spent time in nature reported being able to think more clearly and experienced a sense of peace that lasted beyond their time in the outdoors.
The Kaplans research (outlined in detail in the book “Last Child in the Woods” by Richard Louv) discovered that too much directed attention leads to what they coined “directed-attention fatigue” which can be identified by impulsive behavior, irritation, and an inability to concentrate. Stephen Kaplan, the husband half of the team, wrote, “If you can find an environment where the attention is automatic, you allow directed attention to rest. And that means an environment that’s strong on fascination.”
Other research backs theirs up. A study of more than twelve hundred corporate office employees presented to the American Psychological Society in 1993 found that those with a window allowing them to see trees, bushes, or lawns experienced less frustration and higher enthusiasm in their work than those without such a view.
If you feel that you’ve lost touch with a sense of wonder in the world, spending time in nature is the first step back. Let yourself wander without any specific goal or purpose. Just be in the environment. Get back to your basic senses and let curiosity guide you. If you make room for fascination in your life, eventually you’ll find it popping up in other places too: a book that catches your eye, an acquaintance you discover you’d like to know better, or a certain artist whose work pulls you in. We all need rest and it turns out letting our curiosity romp is one of the most restful things we can do!
Reference: Louv, Richard. (2005) Last Child in the Woods. New York: Algonquin Books.
Challenges/Points:
There are two types of attention we can give to something: directed attention and involuntary attention (fascination).
Too much directed attention leads to burnout.
Our minds and bodies need the rest of involuntary attention gained from time spent in nature or activities like wandering through a museum.
Questions:
Do you carry a sense of wonder with you through life?
When was the last time you followed your curiosity?
What is something you find effortlessly fascinating and how can you create space for more of it in your schedule?
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