Nurturing the Analyst Instinct
Some people have a seemingly natural aptitude for analysis; they have a questioning nature, and know when they're being fobbed off. They were probably 'Why?' children. I was; I was the sort of child who took things apart to see how they worked, and asked question after question of my long-suffering family.
It seems my own daughter is the same, and I love to nurture her natural curiosity. I think it's fair to say that most children go through a 'why?' phase; no matter what you say to them, a series of 'Why?'s follow which get progressively more difficult to answer. They also question everything. Why are the curtains closed? Where are we going? Where's Daddy? Why? Poppie is just turned 2 and solidly in this phase.
I always knew this time would come, and looked forwards to it as it's a clear sign she's developing and growing up, but I didn't realise how much I would enjoy helping her build her knowledge.
I read a blog post a few weeks ago by facebook/Mum-blogger 'The Rambling Redhead' about the impact of not 'shushing' her son, and it really made me think. Clearly, we're all born with a naturally inquisitive nature; it's an evolutionary mechanism to ensure we learn everything we need to learn. But what happens when we really nurture that curiosity? I really don't mind what my daughter wants to do when she's older, so long as she's happy but surely encouraging her to ask questions and giving her proper answers, real information, can only give her a good foundation?
Similarities to Professional Mentoring
It's really very similar to mentoring a professional analyst, and can surely teach us a lot. Patience, for one, and different ways of answering questions. It also solidifies my belief that there are no stupid questions; no-one is born knowing anything, we learn everything as we go. It doesn't matter if we're 2, or 32, if we have never asked the question, we have never been told the answer. Some of us simply stop asking questions, once we believe we've learnt enough. Some of us don't, and those of us who know that there is still so much we don't know are the ones who make the good analysts. And we can encourage new analysts to keep asking those questions, because it's that mentality that will get them ahead, and get them the answers they need.
I can't say my daughter will be a good analyst, she's only 2. But I'll certainly encourage her to ask as many questions as she can think of, and try and give her all of the answers without getting exasperated. There will be things she asks that I don't know the answer to, and just like the Rambling Redhead I'll learn the answers, to be able to give them to her.
And in the meantime, she will teach me how to mentor with patience, because all of her questions are valid.