Answers on family oppression and curiosity

Answers from Elena Ornig

Curiosity is a natural instinct; curiosity cannot be taken away or oppressed.

You don’t develop your identity, self awareness, confidence, personal competence or a sense of self-endorsement. You lose the ability to prioritise your actions, to connect with others. You don’t develop the ability to think productively for yourself and you fail to realise how special you are as an individual. The list goes on; no belief in self-reliance, no recognition of any self-dignity and you certainly don’t become psychologically resilient nor develop the ability to be a free thinker and a free spirit; a very substantial list of the consequences of oppression.

Tragic isn’t it? But as frightening as the above list may be, all is not lost. There is hope for all victims; that hope comes from an inherent emotional instinct; an instinct incredibly powerful and valid.

Curiosity is one such instinct; curiosity cannot be taken away or oppressed. It is strong and represents an internal need to explore, to discover, to seek, to learn and to try something new. We are all very lucky, as human beings, to be naturally inquisitive and curious. We have and exercise this need from infancy to the end of our lives. With our curiosity, we went above many dogmas; individually and collectively we proved throughout history that we can make the seemingly impossible become possible.

Luckily for all, curiosity is an extremely strong motivation that drives us constantly forward and beyond new horizons. It gives us the ability to fantasise and to imagine. It makes us want to find out more and more, and inevitably we become explorers. Who are we? What are we good at? What should we learn, act upon or do? What will be our next step? What do we want?

As we grow, if this emotional instinct is recognised, nurtured and encouraged, there are no limits to what we can discover within our inner selves and the world outside. The only long term difference between victims of family oppression and those who were spared is an initial delay in development. It is only an initial limitation. Instead of contemplating life and asking yourself, “What should I be – an engineer, a brick layer or basket weaver?” the victims will face the very ambiguous and helpless question: “Can I be anything at all?” From that, they will begin their own journey to discover not only the outside world, but also their inner selves.

My warmest regards,