From Rigidity to Fluidity: Rediscovering Curiosity in the Evolving Self
Growth isn’t about ticking boxes—it’s about curiosity, flexibility, and our evolving self. This piece explores how moving from rigidity to openness can help us reconnect with meaning, relationships, and possibilities, inviting us to rediscover curiosity as a guide for authentic change.
INSIGHTSSELF CARE & MENTAL WELLBEINGLIFE
Carl Rogers spoke of becoming rather than arriving — a lifelong process of growth, authenticity, and openness. Yet somewhere along the way, many of us get stuck. Not always in what we do, but in how we see ourselves.
Learning, growth, and development can too easily become checkboxes. A requirement. A hoop to jump through.
That’s a shame, because true growth isn’t about ticking boxes. It’s what holds our lives together. It sparks connection, strengthens understanding, and helps us adapt to a changing world.
Beyond the Checkbox
Growth isn’t limited to formal study or qualifications. It shows up in many small, meaningful ways:
A podcast that makes you pause.
A conversation that shifts how you see things.
A change in routine that feels healthier or kinder.
A moment in therapy where you connect something old to something new.
These aren’t extras. They’re part of what keeps us evolving.
Why Rigidity Holds Us Back
Rigid models and “this is how it should be” thinking can feel safe. Certainty has a comfort to it. But it doesn’t always serve who we’re becoming — or the relationships that matter most.
Life is alive. It moves, shifts, and evolves. So must we.
Leaning Back Into Curiosity
What if we began to see growth differently?
As the neural network of who we are — firing new connections, pruning old ones, and integrating experience.
As a dynamic process, not a static one.
As a space where we don’t just learn ideas, but become more fully ourselves.
Growth is not rigidity. Growth is curiosity, flexibility, and attunement.
An Invitation to Evolve
Therapy can be one of the spaces where this curiosity flourishes. It isn’t about perfection or ticking boxes. It’s about rediscovering who you are, loosening what no longer fits, and making room for what’s next.
💬 What moments of curiosity have shaped you recently?