“I do not like that man, I must get to know him better.” Abraham Lincoln
Compassion is a key ingredient of engagement – it’s hard to let your guard down with someone you sense has little or no compassion for you. But when compassion for another person feels a bit beyond where you are right now, curiosity makes a solid stepping stone.
Curiosity opens space for the unknown, to catch our assumptions, to find unexpected common ground and to turn sound bites into stories. When we’re curious, we can more easily turn down the volume on our judgments and create room for gentler, kinder interactions even if we still hold reservations or outright disagree with the other person’s actions.
While curiosity is an innate quality we may have to varying degrees, it’s also a skill and a mindset we can cultivate. And not only might we find pathways to deeper levels of connection, we might also broaden and evolve our own understanding of the other person, ourselves and the world around us.
Helen Mentha 