02/04/2025
Certainty and Curiosity – A Calming Combo:
Certainty and curiosity are quite a powerful and paradoxical pair of emotions.
The older I get, the more I realize how potent the embodiment of each of these energies is to create feelings of peace and excitement. When we can be certain and confident of an outcome, WHILE holding open space to be curious about the unexpected surprises that will lead us to our outcome, that combination can be truly magical.
As I am intentional to practice combining these two energies in my life, I am also intentional to work with my children to encourage ways they can incorporate certainty and curiosity into their daily lives. This last weekend, we all witnessed how incredibly powerful this pairing was.
My daughter, Audrey (13), was honored to land the lead role of Rosie in her middle school Bye Bye Birdie musical theater production. While she was born a natural singer, dancer, and performer, she (and I) are learning to feel calm amidst unexpected circumstances. When many of her fellow cast mates sadly became sick at the last moment, for the last couple of shows, Audrey, and the entire theater team rallied together to ensure the show would go on!
On Friday night, when my daughter called me in tears, 40 minutes before show time, explaining that her lead costar was out, we quickly, yet firmly established that she COULD be absolutely, positively CERTAIN that the show would be amazing. She vowed to BE confident in what SHE could control, AND she would allow herself to be CURIOUS with ALL that she could not control.
This seemed to calm her (and me!).
I could not have been more proud of how she, and everyone, made the performances magical and memorable.
There are still two more memorable showings of Bye Bye Birdie coming up this week for you to experience:
The next one will be on Audrey‘s 14th birthday:
- Friday, February 7 at 7:00 PM
The final show will be on:
- Saturday, February 8 at 2:00 PM
Tickets are only $5 and can be purchased at the door at the beautiful Performing Arts Center in Festus, MO.
You can be CERTAIN that you will be impressed by all you will witness, while being CURIOUSLY excited for some unexpected, magical moments.
Where might you be able to combine certainty with curiosity to calm an area in your life?
As always, I am so curious about your take on these kinds of concepts.
I would love for you to connect with a comment if you feel called.
P.S. Thank you to Ms. Michelle Ganey and ALL the children and adults who help to cultivate such a magical middle school theater department.
More on connecting with community:
MyFESTUS.com/CertainCuriosity
Festus Middle School