When I think about the mode of the Explorer, I recognize that the Explorer values something else more than fear and safety and is willing to be curious and to feel more than he or she is used to feeling. The Explorer is not problem-focused like the Learner. The Explorer asks the question: “What is the opportunity here?”
Just like the other modes, the Explorer comes with many gifts. In the Explorer’s case, flexibility of mind and body, the willingness to be wrong or to make a mistake, being open to possibility, and understanding that there is not just ONE right answer are all gifts that are experienced.
I think as we go though these different modes, I’m hoping to see that each mode has value and each mode has an appropriate time to be in. The modes are not a destination to get to and stay in. They are different characters that we can play in a one-person show. And we can choose to play each character based on the changing natural rhythms in our lives.
Next week we’ll look at the fourth mode, the Seeker.