Curiosity.
A desire to always learn more, to investigate further. An understanding that no matter what they already know, there is always something more. More detail. More nuance. Entirely new subjects. There is always something more to learn.
And that is an amazing thing!
I often find myself wondering things about the world, or how people tick, and then I receive a look of, "Why would you ever wonder that?" I don't have an explanation. I just do.
Brian Grazer wrote a great book about the journey that curiosity has taken him on throughout his career as a film producer. He reminds us that
Life isn't about finding the answers, it's about asking the questions
With all of the resources available to us at the click of a button, we can learn virtually anything. I could find an answer to almost any question with a quick Google search. But what if I never ask the questions?
So, at this exact moment, if there was one trait that I could instill in my children it would be curiosity - not the incessant "Why" of a 4-year-old when you tell her to brush her teeth - but a genuine curiosity about the world and people.
Mere curiosity, and the willingness to go down the rabbit hole, can expose you to so many people, places, ideas that you might have never found otherwise.
I heard somebody once described as having "a profound lack of curiosity." This person portrayed themselves as somebody who knew just about everything. I hope that is never an applicable description of me. A profound lack of curiosity means that there is nothing else worthwhile to learn.
And what kind of world is that to live in?