They say wisdom comes with age.
But I think the real gift is curiosity.
Not the kind that fades with time,
The kind that deepens.
Lately, I’ve felt it growing.
Not a desire to know everything.
But a hunger to keep asking.
To remain open.
To stay unsettled.
I’m not after mastery.
I’m chasing wonder.
NOW: Aging Like a Beginner
There’s a funny paradox to learning as you age:
You realize just how much you don’t know.
And instead of feeling defeated, you feel…awake.
I’m asking more questions now than I did in my twenties and thirties.
I’m reading more widely. Listening more closely.
Not to prove something. But to uncover something.
To discover again.
Curiosity, it turns out, is a muscle.
And age, if you let it, just makes it stronger.
Ask yourself:
~ When was the last time you chased a question with no agenda?
~ Are you more interested in answers, or in what the next question might unlock?
NEW: Learning As a Way of Being
This shift in learning isn’t academic, it’s existential.
I’m not trying to add skills to a résumé.
I’m trying to expand my lens.
AI, for instance, doesn’t intimidate me.
It excites me.
Because I see it not as a replacement,
But as a mirror.
A brush.
A blank canvas.
All those ideas I once shelved…
Suddenly, they’re back in play.
Not because I have more time.
But because I’ve reclaimed my appetite.
This is what it means to learn with a beginner’s mind.
To let go of the need to be right.
To let play and possibility back into the room.
Ask yourself:
~ What would you explore if there were no stakes?
~ What idea from your youth is ready to be dusted off and revisited with fresh eyes?
NEXT: Designing for Lifelong Curiosity
In a world of experts, the learner will always be the one who stays agile.
AI isn’t the end of thinking.
It’s an invitation to think differently.
To mix disciplines.
To remix ideas.
To let our curiosity outrun our expertise.
In this next chapter, I’m less interested in being a specialist.
And more interested in being a student of everything.
If the world is shifting, fast, constantly, chaotically,
Then curiosity might be the most strategic skill of all.
So here’s the challenge:
What are you willing to not know today, in order to learn something more expansive tomorrow?
What curiosity are you ready to follow, even if it has no clear outcome?
THE PAYOFF: Stay Thirsty
In the Now, we acknowledge that knowing less is the beginning of knowing more.
In the New, we trade expertise for exploration.
In the Next, we follow our curiosity like a compass—not to arrive, but to grow.
There is no final mastery.
Only motion.
That is the soul of a ShiftStory.
Not just changing careers.
Not just rebranding yourself.
But becoming someone who lives with questions wide open,
And drinks deeply from the joy of learning.
Stay thirsty.
The future belongs to the curious.
“I learned to always take on things I’d never done before. Growth and comfort do not coexist.” ~ Virginia Rometty, former CEO of IBM
I’m Tobin Trevarthen, a Narratologist, founder of Spatial Shift by Tobin, co-author of Narrative Generation, and creator of ShiftStory™.
I’ve spent decades in the corporate and start-up worlds, selling over $1 billion in marketing programs before shifting into narrative work designed to help people and organizations make sense of transformation through storytelling.
I’ve worked with founders, executives, startups, Global 1000 companies, and cultural institutions to design narrative frameworks that spark clarity and alignment.
Now New Next is where I reflect on the long game, with a sense of urgency. I write for modern elders, edge thinkers, and curious builders trying to name what matters now, what’s emerging, and what’s worth pursuing next.
You’ll find no hype here. Just a mix of strategy, story, and soulful direction for a shifting world. I also write about narrative worth, identity, and becoming a portrait of you.
ShiftStory™ is my new ideation for building narrative agency in uncertain times. The pilot Walk n Talks have helped to shape the program now in progress with a few test customers.
I am pleased with the early feedback and will be launching the beta program this summer. It will be limited to 10 participants in the first cohort.
Follow me on LinkedIn. Or DM at tobin@spatialshift.com for more information.
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