Living with Curiosity
- Lisa Gregory
- Oct 17
- 3 min read
Updated: Nov 11
When was the last time you did something just because you were curious? Not because it looked good on a CV.Not because it matched your course outline. Just because a quiet part of you whispered, “I wonder what that’s like.”
Somewhere along the path to adulthood, curiosity stopped being celebrated. It started to look… unproductive. We began to measure everything in outcomes grades, internships, offers. Curiosity became a side character, something for children or daydreamers. Yet, in HAPHE, curiosity isn’t a distraction from the dream; it’s the part that keeps the dream alive.
Curiosity as a Living Thread
In The Dream as a Living Connection, we learned that a dream isn’t a destination. It’s a relationship that grows with you.Curiosity is how you listen in that relationship.
When you stay curious, you keep asking, What else could this mean? What would happen if I tried this differently? That’s how dreams breathe. That’s how you notice new paths or even entirely new versions of yourself waiting just outside your comfort zone.
Without curiosity, dreams calcify. They become rigid plans that can’t survive real life. You end up defending an old version of yourself instead of discovering a new one.
The Quiet Power of “I Don’t Know”
University is full of people who sound like they have it all figured out. But the truth? The most resilient students aren’t the ones who know everything they’re the ones who aren’t afraid to say “I don’t know yet.”
“I don’t know” is a brave sentence.It means you’re open to being surprised.It means you haven’t shut the door on discovery.
That’s the energy behind HAPHE’s name itself which, as we explore in Is HAPHE a Greek Word, comes from the idea of connection and touch. Curiosity is that touch a gentle reaching outward to explore your world instead of controlling it. It’s what turns experience into understanding.
Curiosity vs. Control
Most of us mistake control for clarity.We think that if we plan everything our grades, internships, five-year goals life will somehow stay safe.But control is often just fear dressed up in productivity.
Curiosity, on the other hand, is flexible. It’s not about having all the answers; it’s about trusting that the process is the answer.When you live with curiosity, you’re not waiting for your dream to be perfect you’re learning to be in relationship with it.
You stop thinking of success as “arriving somewhere” and start thinking of it as staying awake to what’s unfolding.
Moments that Spark Growth
Think about how many discoveries start from curiosity:
A quick question after a lecture becomes your dissertation topic.
A side project turns into a career.
A conversation with someone from another faculty rewrites your perspective.
Curiosity connects you to people as much as it does to ideas. It bridges disciplines, cultures, and even self-doubt.When you ask “why?” you start to see the bigger map of your own life. And that’s when the dream stops being one narrow part of life and becomes a living part.
A Moment from HAPHE
Watch “Is HAPHE a Greek Word?” a short video that explains how the word HAPHE means “to connect for the benefit of the whole.”You’ll see how curiosity the act of reaching outward is woven into HAPHE’s entire philosophy.Because connection always begins with curiosity.
Your HAPHE Moment
At HAPHE, we see curiosity as a form of care.It protects you from the rigidity that leads to burnout or identity loss.It reminds you that you’re allowed to evolve.
So if your dream feels distant or dull right now, don’t force it feed it with curiosity.Ask questions. Try something unexpected. Take one step that doesn’t fit the plan.
You might find that the dream wasn’t dying. It was just waiting for you to start listening again.
Dreams don’t live on paper — they breathe through the choices we make every day.
Discover the cost of the single dream, learn how to balance ambition and rest, and embrace when the dream shifts.
Reflect on comparison culture, failure, and letting go without giving up.