Curiosity - The Spark of Healthy Aging

Curiosity can be good for you.  The landmark MacArthur Foundation Study of Successful Aging highlighted curiosity and continued learning as key psychological factors in maintaining vitality in older age.  For some, the curiosity so prevalent in childhood wanes. Val Carter, guest author, explores how curiosity can be renewed and contribute to healthy aging. 

 

Curiosity: a strong desire to know or learn about something, often leading to exploration or inquiry. It is the key driver to human development and learning.

"We keep moving forward, opening up new doors and doing new things, because we're curious ... and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths."  Walt Disney

Curiosity Can be Healthy

Curiosity can be good for you! I’m not talking about poking our noses into other people’s affairs, asking embarrassing questions about people’s lives, or clicking on those emails that promise us great rewards if we share our personal information.  I’m talking about looking for points of interest everywhere we go and in everything we hear and experience. 

Curiosity and Development

Let me take you back to your younger self. As a baby you put things in your mouth to explore them, and tried shaking objects to see if they made a noise. Watch a baby entertain themselves simply by playing with a bunch of house keys. As a toddler and young child, you were curious about everything; for example, “What happens if I press this switch? Oh, the light turns on! And if I press it again? Oh, it goes off! Let’s try that again, and again…and again! Do I get the same result?” Anyone who’s cared for a small child in the “Why” phase knows their curiosity knows no bounds; it is as wide as their imagination.

Somewhere along the way, we lose this sense of wonder and possibility. By being curious we can go back to that mindset of our younger selves, focus on engaging with the world with fresh eyes, and be interested in what we discover.

Go back to your childhood self and see the world as you did then. Everything new was exciting. If you are fortunate enough to have young children in your family, watch how they marvel at a butterfly, a dandelion, or how your appliances work. If you don’t know the answers to their questions, research together. If you don’t have young people nearby, go to a park or playground, or watch people walking by your home with their children, and observe the different ways they approach the things that we ignore because to us they are everyday items and, therefore, mundane.

Being 'Curious' About Yourself

I believe we need to start by being curious about ourselves. As we start on the path of working to pay the bills, how many of us are truly happy with our jobs and in our lives? Do we really feel we are making a valuable contribution to the world? Curiosity about what makes us really tick might point us towards a different path that we find more fulfilling, or prompt us to take a step back and allow ourselves more time for family, friends and hobbies. Simon Sinek’s book, Find Your Why, can be a good start in helping us find our true focus and values; of course, there are many other books through which you might like to explore this topic. From here, choosing to work in a role that upholds those values will make us happier and help us make the most of life.

Develop Your Curiosity for Healthy Retirement

When friends of mine have retired, they have often talked about losing their sense of purpose. Whether or not they worked outside the home, it’s common for them to use their former role as a way to identify who they are; for example, I was a parent, a salesperson, a bus driver, a nurse.

How can we reframe this vision of ourselves and see retirement not as a retreat from life, but instead as a reframing of our activities to suit the extra time we have available? This is where curiosity about ourselves can really help us to align our future activities to our values and sense of contributing to life. Volunteer work can fulfill this need if we choose the correct type of volunteering for us that will be meaningful to us and others – again, we should check in with ourselves to ensure this matches our true focus. It may mean giving the gift of time to family and friends who need a helping hand, or finding an organization that aligns with our interests and internal compass. We might decide to learn something new, brush up on skills that have been neglected, travel to other countries, or simply explore our own neighbourhood and notice small details we have missed before.

How Curiosity Supports Healthy Aging

The benefits of curiosity are well-researched. The findings shows us that having an active social life, engaging with others in diverse ways, and learning new skills are important in maintaining brain health. Our brain can actually grow as we learn new activities such as playing a musical instrument or a game; learning a language; or simply by debating and discussing meaningful issues with others. Without this stimulation, it is easy for our brains to begin to prune areas we are not using, thereby losing brain cells and some of our abilities along with them.

It is said that one of the reasons that Queen Elizabeth II lived to such a  long life with her full faculties is not only that she was gifted with good health, but she remained curious. When going out to yet another factory opening or community project, she insisted on being briefed fully so she would know exactly what to say and what to ask about. She wanted to know all the details.

Once you start being curious, it is amazing how many things are fascinating. Just stop for a moment, sit and look out of your window. Whatever view you have, there will nearly always be something you notice that you know very little about. This is the type of curiosity to indulge in until it becomes a habit. The internet, YouTube and artificial intelligence such as ChatGPT and Gemini or an AI feature on your smartphone are mines of information just waiting to be explored.

Opportunities to Nurture Curiosity

There are many examples of opportunities to nurture our curiosity.  Maybe some of you are aware of an online organization, The Cloud Appreciation Society for people who love the sky. It has over 60,000 members worldwide. Since we all live under the same sky, this could be something to engage in with others both locally and overseas. While this does not tweak my curiosity, I know people who find it extremely interesting.

Want to develop your curiosity?  This is where being a member of CALL (Calgary Association of Lifelong Learners) can be so valuable. With all the diverse activities available, there are ample opportunities to join others wishing to learn, talk or play together. If you are not mobile outside your home, there are activities online as well as in person - and if you don’t see what you are interested in, you can always start your own group.

Travel has always been a source of great joy to me. I grew up in the UK in a dormitory town near London. The weather was often grey, the town seemed grey and dull, and there was very little green space where I could run and play. Each month my parents received a copy of National Geographic. How I loved those magazines! I still remember lying on the floor and devouring them, loving the pictures even before I could read. Each page told a tale of people who lived in glorious technicolour. I knew right then that I would want to travel when I got older.

I still love to travel, whether it is discovering interesting places right here in my adopted home town of Calgary or travelling overseas. Seeing how others live, work, eat and relax is fascinating to me – but then I’m a people person. Others travel to see interesting buildings, museums and monuments. However, not everyone feels the same. We still have friends in the UK who ask how we can have left behind everything we’ve ever known and live in a different country. Our answer is, “How could we not?” And thank you Canada, we are proud Canadians and have been for many years, even if we can’t yet speak the language with the correct accent!

Think about what holds your attention. What makes you say, “I’d like to know more about that.” or “That’s something I’ve never understood, but I’d like to.” or “That looks like fun!” Those are triggers for curiosity that you need to pay attention to and follow up on.

Getting to know yourself, and being honest about what you discover, is the first step. I advise you to embrace topics that interest you, even if you think they are not going to make you popular, or your family and friends might think they are odd. Of course, I’m talking only about topics that are moral and legal! If they pique your interest, explore them and see if they are something you wish to pursue further. If not, be alert to the next thing – and you can be curious about many things at once.

As the actor Alan Alda says,

"If you're bored, you're just not paying attention". 

I hope this encourages you to think of exploring a topic that is unfamiliar to you right now, to persevere if it is challenging, and to share your new-found knowledge with others who are interested. It would be interesting to know what types of activities CALL Blog readers become involved in!

Val Carter

Takeaway Messages

As people age, maintaining a sense of curiosity can become a powerful antidote to the common challenges of later life—loneliness, boredom, declining cognitive function, and reduced motivation.

Curiosity supports healthy aging through:

• Lifelong Learning & Exploration
  Curious older adults seek out new knowledge, ideas, and experiences. This active approach helps stimulate the brain and keep cognitive decline at bay.

• Motivation & Meaning
  Curiosity drives people to pursue purpose-filled activities, volunteer, ask questions, and engage socially—all of which contribute to emotional resilience and life satisfaction.

• Brain Health & Neuroplasticity
  Curiosity fosters an openness to novelty which has been shown to improve brain plasticity—the brain’s ability to adapt and form new neural connections—which is critical for maintaining cognitive health as we age.

• Social Connection & Adaptability
  A curious mind doesn't retreat inward; it reaches out, creating bridges between generations, cultures, and communities. Being socially engaged is a known contributor to longevity and mental health. Curiosity fosters adaptability. A curious mindset can help older adults embrace uncertainty and view challenges as opportunities for learning rather than threats to stability.

How CALL Supports Curiosity

Programs of the Calgary Association of Lifelong Learners (CALL) promote curiosity through peer learning, discussions, creative activities, and shared exploration.

Keep asking questions. Keep learning. Stay curious.

CALL helps older adults stay mentally vibrant and socially connected.

In last month's Blog post, Gail Kingwell explored how CALL offers the benefits of belonging to a community. 
CALL: More Than Lifelong Learning: A Community of Curious Minds.

References

Center for Healthy Aging – MacArthur Studies
The landmark MacArthur Foundation Study of Successful Aging highlighted curiosity and continued learning as key psychological factors in maintaining vitality in older age.
Key Finding: High levels of curiosity were predictive of increased longevity and healthier cognitive aging.

National Institute on Aging (NIA)
Cognitive Health and Older Adults
Summary: The NIA emphasizes engaging curiosity—through new learning, social connection, and meaningful activities—as a pathway to maintaining brain health.

Author

Maureen Osis retired from her career -- first as a Gerontological Nurse and then a Marriage/Family Therapist in private practice working with mid-life and older adults. Maureen has published numerous articles and books, related to her professions. She is a member of CALL because she is passionate about learning. She is a volunteer with CALL, doing social media and the primary author of the blog, because she likes to face new challenges.

Guest Author

Val Carter has been a proud Canadian for decades, having moved from the UK via a couple of years in Bogota, Colombia. She has always been curious about everything around her, especially people. Her early career was in Human Resources before stepping sideways into adult learning. She has been an enthusiastic and client-focused independent learning and development consultant for many years, with a focus on soft skills from time management to supervisory and leadership techniques (she says she’s the worst boss she’s ever had; she sets the bar so high for herself!). She’s also been a nanny in Greece and Italy, a hospital Emergency Department receptionist (non-medical), a volunteer docent at the Calgary Zoo, and a dementia care educator, amongst other jobs. Some years ago Maureen Osis, your CALL Blog author, said, “Val is passionate about so many things!” When the time comes to step back from the working world, Val looks forward to joining in with the activities at CALL to satisfy her curiosity cravings. If CALL can’t provide it, it probably doesn’t exist!

The SUCCESS Centre

Val Carter

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