The Match | Curiosity
Word: Curiosity
Sentence:
Curiosity is the doorway to empathy, learning, and better leadership.
Passage:
Somewhere along the way, as our kid brain quiets and our adult brain takes over, curiosity starts to fade. We trade questions for assumptions, wonder for certainty. And yet, staying curious is one of the few practices that keeps us learning about the world, about others, and about ourselves.
Lately, I have been trying something simple: adding the word “Why” to the end of moments that usually rush past me. When my wife says, “I am feeling anxious,” my instinct is to fix it, solve it, make the feeling go away. Instead, I ask, “Why.” Not as a challenge, but as an invitation. And in that moment, she has space to unpack what is underneath without my judgment or solutions.
The truth is, we rarely use the power of Why because we are too busy for the answer or too deep in our own thoughts to create space for someone else’s. But curiosity is what keeps us connected. It is how we notice people changing. It is how we interrupt the assumptions and biases built from our past experiences.
Working with kids is a constant reminder of what we lose as adults. Their questions, their wonder, their need to understand, all of it fuels deeper learning. When we stay curious, we step back into that space. And the more curious we remain, the more empathy we build, and the better we lead.
Your Turn:
What is one place in your life that deserves a little more curiosity?
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4 Comments
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4 Comments
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on December 4, 2025 at 8:48 pm
“My ‘adult brain’ has taken over regarding my son’s transition to high school. I have replaced wonder with worry. I see his lack of focus on the future and immediately assume it reflects a gap in my parenting—asking myself, ‘Why didn’t I do a better job?’
The place that deserves more curiosity is right there in that gap. Instead of assuming his hesitation is a deficit I caused, I want to get curious about who he is becoming. I want to replace my fear of the future with curiosity about how he sees it.”
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on December 4, 2025 at 8:57 pm
My brother Batey! This really resonated with me, especially as a fellow father of a high school kid. I feel that same pull toward worry, that instinct to assume their uncertainty is somehow a reflection of our parenting. It is so easy for the adult brain to jump straight to fear.
What you named is powerful. There is a gap between who they are and who we imagine they should be, and curiosity is the only way we bridge it. Our kids are becoming someone new right in front of us, and staying curious gives us a chance to actually see it.
Thank you for reminding me of that. I needed it this week.
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on December 5, 2025 at 1:08 pm
My adult brain is often dormant. I don’t have kids. I wish I could be more vested in my community. Right now I just try to avoid the noise.
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Thank you for sharing this. I think a lot of us feel that tension between wanting to be more present in our community and not always knowing where to start. You do not need to have kids to practice curiosity or to be a meaningful part of the world around you.
Even small moments count. Getting curious about the people you work with, the neighbors you pass, or the stories happening around you is its own form of community. And sometimes curiosity begins with simply noticing when we are avoiding something and asking ourselves why.
You are not alone in that feeling. And the fact that you named it here says a lot about the kind of presence you are already trying to build.
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“My ‘adult brain’ has taken over regarding my son’s transition to high school. I have replaced wonder with worry. I see his lack of focus on the future and immediately assume it reflects a gap in my parenting—asking myself, ‘Why didn’t I do a better job?’
The place that deserves more curiosity is right there in that gap. Instead of assuming his hesitation is a deficit I caused, I want to get curious about who he is becoming. I want to replace my fear of the future with curiosity about how he sees it.”
My brother Batey! This really resonated with me, especially as a fellow father of a high school kid. I feel that same pull toward worry, that instinct to assume their uncertainty is somehow a reflection of our parenting. It is so easy for the adult brain to jump straight to fear.
What you named is powerful. There is a gap between who they are and who we imagine they should be, and curiosity is the only way we bridge it. Our kids are becoming someone new right in front of us, and staying curious gives us a chance to actually see it.
Thank you for reminding me of that. I needed it this week.
My adult brain is often dormant. I don’t have kids. I wish I could be more vested in my community. Right now I just try to avoid the noise.
Thank you for sharing this. I think a lot of us feel that tension between wanting to be more present in our community and not always knowing where to start. You do not need to have kids to practice curiosity or to be a meaningful part of the world around you.
Even small moments count. Getting curious about the people you work with, the neighbors you pass, or the stories happening around you is its own form of community. And sometimes curiosity begins with simply noticing when we are avoiding something and asking ourselves why.
You are not alone in that feeling. And the fact that you named it here says a lot about the kind of presence you are already trying to build.