Curiosity

Someone asked me the best question the other day and it was this:

‘What is a really important characteristic or personality trait to have if you live diabetes?’

I thought about it for a while. The first thing that came to mind was resilience. The never-ending nature of diabetes means that staying power, strength, plenty of flexibility and being able to push on and through is needed to deal with just the day to day. 

And so, resilience was the answer I gave. 

But I haven’t been able to stop thinking about that question, and I think that I have a better answer. 

Curiosity. 

Being curious is not only important, but it leads to some of the best outcomes and opens doors to aspects of diabetes that I may have otherwise missed. 

It has served me well. Being curious about how others with diabetes were interacting and the opportunities they were creating to build communities is the reason that I delved into the world of online diabetes peer support. I asked a lot of questions to learn about collaborations between industry and advocates to see how our expertise was bring recognised and utilised. From there, I was able to develop those same sorts of activities locally that also had a global bent.

As an advocate, being curious about the experiences and knowledge of others with diabetes living in different places around the world has meant that I have a far broader understanding of the challenges, the successes, the things that work well and the things that don’t, and the health systems of people in the global diabetes community. It has meant that I look far beyond my own perspective, instead learning and asking about others. It is one of the reasons that I am so often invited to participate in advisory groups or facilitate discussions and other initiatives. Those doing the inviting are aware that my knowledge and understanding will never just be that of what’s going on in the Australian sector – I will be able to point them to people in the global community who can provide wider and more diverse experiences. 

I have frequently referred to diabetes as a petulant toddler, but I think that acting like one, with regular sprinklings of ‘But why?’ is often a perfect response when a diabetes therapy is offered. 

Asking ‘But why?’ has meant that I’ve never accepted the status quo or simply done what I’ve been told. I know it has driven HCPs to distraction in the past, but it has helped tailor care to what I need and centres me and my diabetes in conversations. 

Even before that, being curious about how a HCP operates, the way they engage and their interpretation of person-centred has resulted in me connecting with the absolute perfect HCPs for me…and leaving the ones that were not.

Being curious about different technologies was the starting point for me to investigate further and learn from others and ask questions to work out just how those technologies might work for me. I’m not just talking Loop. It was that curiosity that had me seeking out the few people using pumps in Australia back in 2000 to find out just what it meant to wear one. The questions I had couldn’t be answered simply by reading what the pump companies had to offer. I was curious about the realities of pump therapy.

I’ve also come to appreciate curiosity as a trait in others. My own endocrinologist is curious in her approach and the way that she conducts our consultations. Her ‘How are you?’ at the beginning of consultations isn’t a perfunctory question. She uses that as a launching pad to get a good idea of just where I am at, and then listens as I guide the discussion. When I spoke with her about Loop, for example, she wanted to learn more – not dismiss it as a dangerous endeavour. I have appreciated that desire to understand more and her own curiosity because I know it means that 

And the most wonderful GP I ever saw (damn him for moving to bloody Darwin!) had never seen an insulin pump the first time I walked into his office. He asked me about it, but better yet, the next time I saw him, he had read up and had more questions. His curiosity helped expand his own comprehension of diabetes, and I was so grateful that he thought like that. 

Being curious means that there are always more questions to ask, different options to investigate and keeps my desire to learn active. It’s meant that I’ve never settled, always intent on finding out more or difference options. I am curious and I search for curiosity in others because there is still so much about diabetes that I need to understand. Undoubtedly, the best way to do that is when my mind is open and I am curious, and I am around people who have that same open-minded approach.