Do you know what spreads faster than lies?

It is well established in the scientific literature that lies spread faster than facts. Six times as fast.

We are inundated with information in this new Information Age which keeps us all constantly sifting through data. It can be very hard to know whether what you are reading, or what link you have clicked on, is actually providing facts vs fiction.

Do you know the one thing that spreads as fast and as powerfully through social networks as lies? INSPIRATION.

Yep. A part of us wants to find the good.

While worry and rumination are functions of the left brain, inspiration and its cousins of imagination, creativity, curiosity and connection all emerge from our right hemisphere.

Our right hemisphere is very present moment oriented, and it has the potential to keep us in a curious space of what Dr. Martha Beck calls “don’t know mind”.

The older I get, and literally the more I learn, the less I really know. Or at least that is how it feels. In reality, none of us will ever get it all figured out.

The Universe and our lives are inherently mysterious. None of us know how things are going to turn out. The lies and vitriol may lead us to believe we are all doomed, where as inspiration may keep our hearts and minds open to the potential these times carry.

In my own life, I am practicing curiosity over and over again. The yoga tradition teaches that curiosity is the balm for anxiety. For me curiosity is a way to stay open when my mind is screaming at me to shut down and close up.

The environmentalist Paul Hawkes who wrote “Drawdown: The Most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed to Reverse Global Warning”, said that impetus behind this huge project was curiosity and not fear.

What if all the hard things going on in our personal lives and the world at large weren’t happening TO US but rather FOR US? Maybe all the hard stuff is invoking the curiosity to reimagine everything so we can innovate, effect change, and find a more compassionate path.

Join me for Wisdom Wednesday on the 5th – we are going to talk all about curiosity and hope. And, mark your calendars for March 31 when Tend Her 4.0 begins on HOPE: Using the Darkness to Find the Light.

“When I despair, I remember that all through history, the ways of truth and love have always won. There have been tyrants and murderers, and for a time, they can seem invincible, but in the end, they always fall. Think of it – always.” -Ghandi
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