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I’m big on curiosity.

If someone asks me to describe myself, then infinitely curious is my go-to descriptor. I believe that curiosity is the prerequisite to wisdom and the breeding ground for play, which I consider virtues all on their own. I’ve tried to train myself to approach each day with a posture of inquisitiveness; to reframe problems as opportunities for discovery; and to see people as empires of experience that I have the privilege of exploring. For better or worse, my curiosity is a bit of a pride point for me; one of the attributes that I can authentically say I like about myself. As a result, I spend a lot of time thinking about the roots and fruits of this emotion.

Indeed— I think curiosity, in many ways, can be analogized as clean energy for the soul. It is one of those motivations that animates and fuels people, but without the potential soft pollution that other motivators like ambition, retribution, lust, or fear can sometimes produce. This is not meant to be a moral assertion, as there are likely occasions for which all of those motivations are necessary or, at least, unavoidable. Rather, my point is that curiosity’s glory is in its innocence, not in its edge. It is like the electric vehicle of emotions. 

This strength, however, is also a limitation (as all strengths tend to be). Because curiosity is so humble and holds all things with an equally open hand, I realized that there is another emotional movement which has ebbed and flowed internally over the course of my lifetime, but contains much more drive than the unassuming emotion of curiosity. I would describe this movement as a thirst for life and it is characterized by its bias for action, appetite for experience, and a willingness to make itself heard. 

Someone operating with a thirst for life has a velocity that the curious person does not; they volunteer themselves and let their appetite show. Whereas ambition is concerned with progress, status, or achievement, a thirst for life is concerned with fullness; it wants to sop up every last bit of unfiltered knowledge, experience, and emotion that it possibly can. Thirst for life seizes what’s in front of it—not because it’s anxious or operating under the assumption of scarcity, but because it is grateful and sees the gift hidden in every encounter. A thirst for life is an automatic “yes.” It welcomes strangers, reads voraciously, collects stories that can be told a million times, and seeks out opportunities that will test their limits. A thirst for life does not come from lack, but it does feel like desperation… desperation to drink deeply from the fountain of existence.

Obviously, there is overlap between curiosity and what I am attempting to describe. I’m not attempting to create a false dichotomy, just trace the contours of the two emotions. That being said, I am convinced that my previous conception of “curiosity” did not include the fire that I am trying to locate in the notion of a thirst of life, and while my curiosity has been a near-constant since my youth, I’ve only been thirsty for life in the seasons that I equate to being “at my healthiest”— whatever that means. I’m not sure why that is, but I am curious about it (joke intended). I’ll probably spend a few more posts in the future trying to flesh this out and get a better understanding of what I’m trying to describe. Until then, I hope this provokes a little bit of thirst in you, the reader.

Life is so plentiful,

Bradley