Curated Questions: Conversations Celebrating the Power of Questions! Mental Health Compassion and Choosing to Be Curious | Lynn Borton #03
"Choosing to be curious is acting on the idea that there's opportunity in the unknown, which becomes an invitation." - Lynn Borton
Lynn Borton is the creator and host of the podcast and Pacifica Network radio show "Choose to be Curious." Lynn is a facilitator—of conversations and transformation—with more than 30 years of experience in strategic governance and change management in the non-profit sector.
Combining science, organizational learning, and leadership development, Lynn is working to synthesize the study of curiosity into something we can all appreciate: an exciting path to greater personal well-being, professional success, and life satisfaction.
What started as a curious investigation into a startup radio station in Arlington, Virginia, developed into a weekly show with guests from across the globe and over 200 episodes.
We talk about Lynn's childhood and how her parents influenced her curiosity, her career fighting for the rights of those experiencing mental illness, and the transition to exploring curiosity via a radio show/podcast. Curiosity was just the right topic to cover during this Curated Questions relaunch episode.
Episode Notes
Lynn recounts how her parents fostered curiosity [2:25]
Lynn describes when she first understood the power of questions [5:15]
Asking questions out of care [8:15]
National Alliance on Mental Illness – the nation’s largest grassroots mental health organization [9:20]
Realization it is better to ask questions than know everything [12:00]
Lynn's favorite book [14:00]
Discussion on mental health and checking in on people [15:55]
Mental illness is not a casserole illness [18:00]
The wellness community mindset doesn't apply to mental illness [20:20]
Complex PTSD [22:20]
Living and working with those who have mental illness and having intentional conversations [25:15]
The birth of Choose to be Curious [28:55]
Morbid curiosity and leaning towards what makes you uncomfortable [32:15]
The real power is in learning to craft your own questions [36:03]
Curiosity mentors [37:50]
Defining and cultivating a curiosity practice [40:50]
Respecting curiosity [42:50]
Itchy fingers and life as a beginner urban sketcher [46:50]
Investigating Choose to be Curious podcast episodes [50:15]
Where to follow Lynn Borton [53:05]
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Mentioned Resources
The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Chester
Seek: How Curiosity Can Transform Your Life and Change the World by Scott Shigeoka
Morbid Curiosity, with Coltan Scrivner
The Art of Noticing by Rob Walker
Valerie Hunter (Organizational Development)
What is a question, with Lani Watson
The Right Questions Institute, with Andrew Minigan
The right questions for legal empowerment, with Naomi Campbell
A double take on lynching, with Susan Strasser and Marcia E Cole
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Questions Asked
Was curiosity and questions a part of your childhood?
When did you first understand the power of questions?
What's going on?
How are you?
Are you absorbing the lessons?
What questions are we not asking about mental health?
What makes you come alive?
What might we do to change the stigma around mental illness, such that in conversations, it would be treated like any other illness?
What would you like me to know?
If it starts to go sideways for you, what would you like me to know and how can I be helpful?
What would NOT be helpful?
What was the draw to all things curiosity?
What curiosity conversations were surprising?
What system infrastructure and communications need to be in place for a zombie apocalypse?
What is a question?
What makes a question a question?
Who have been your mentors who modeled curiosity?
How can one cultivate curiosity?
What's even the least bit interesting to me around me?
What are the ways large and small people bring curiosity into their lives?
What area of your life are you a beginner?
What should someone start with your Choose to be Curious podcast?
Where is the best place to engage with you?