Today we're exploring the idea of openness. It's easy to say, 'be open to all life has to offer'. But it's so much harder to do! As we get older, in my 40 years of experience, I've noticed we can get a little too comfortable with what we know, with our routine, with the familiar...
Slowly, almost imperceptibly, we begin serving our routines: we can't go to this play because it will end after we normally go to bed, we can't go to that film because we don't know anything about Japanese cinema, we can't visit that country because we don't know the language/cuisine/culture...
And slowly, our worlds shrink. Our curiosity is dulled. We repeat the same conversations. We lose the opportunity to expand our thinking and to challenge ourselves to go beyond our self-imposed limits. We no longer see the world through the eyes of children, where anything is possible. We see the world through the eyes of fear, control and predictability.
What I have learnt about Openness
Yet again, I must be honest and say that I speak from personal experience above... I have to admit to limiting the adventures and opportunities I've been willing to have for some very small reasons - fear, comfort...
But I have seen wonderful rolemodels. Luke, my brother, is always willing to take on new challenges and, as a result, he's had experiences ranging from working in an orphanage in Belarus to climbing Machu Picchu. Alex did a tour of the world with Maya, her first child, when she was just 6 weeks old. Laura Huxley used to put vegetable leftovers into glass jars so she could marvel at the forms and colours they took on as they decomposed!
And in the moments when I been open to life, to experimenting with something new, I've always been enriched by the process. I've learnt something. I've expanded who I am and how I understand the world. And I've felt a little bit of a fizzle inside, at the sheer joy of being open to life! Like trying to waterski, seeing a great Japanese film from the 1950s, learning some Portugese and Dutch...
What I wish for you
By all means, have a routine that works for you. But let it serve you, don't become a slave to your routines...
I wish that you retain a curiosity about life, an openness to hear new ideas, to experience new adventures and that your life does not shrink to fit around a 9-5 job... that you still experience excitement, challenges and new thoughts.
There are infinite possibilities available to us. Stay open to them. Let life fizzle within you, around you...
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