The Curiosity Cure
When you feel irritable, leverage curiosity’s effect on the brain to feel good instead.
My six-year-old is in that phase where he loves magic tricks. He learned one of his favorites from a Netflix show called Brainchild. It’s purportedly a physics lesson, but I think it’s also a fantastic psychology lesson in disguise.
The trick goes like this. My son has me stack my fists, one on top of the other. Then he tells me to try to stop him from pulling them apart. So I press tight. If my son tries to pull my fists up and down, using vertical force, I press harder. My vertical force is too much for him to overcome, so he can’t do it. But if he pushes my fists sideways, using horizontal force, he easily succeeds, and my hands come apart in a flash.
This, of course, is a neat way to demonstrate the power of leverage. It’s also a handy metaphor for how to skillfully respond to feelings characterized by tension, such as irritability.
Irritability is like those fists. You may even experience it as clenching in your jaw, throat, and chest. This feels awful, and it’s only natural to want it to go away.
Your first move might be to force it. You might criticize yourself. Why can’t I stop acting this way? Why am I like this? What’s wrong with me? It’s an instinctive…
