Eve Blossom
Role: Somatic experiencing practitioner
Contributions to the Discussion
Eve brought a unique embodied perspective, emphasizing the somatic and place-based dimensions of curiosity.
Curiosity and Sense of Place
Jerry Michalski captured Eve's contribution:
"Eve: curiosity + sense of place, to keep it alive"
Eve connected curiosity to our physical relationship with the world and specific locations, suggesting that rootedness in place can sustain and deepen curiosity.
Somatic Experiencing
Eve's powerful statement on the body's role in curiosity:
"Somatic experiencing can deepen curiosity by helping the body feel safe to explore rather than be passive, be reactive, turning tension and overwhelm into spaciousness for new perceptions. When we tune into the subtle signals of the body, curiosity becomes less an effort of the mind and more a natural opening to what is present, possible, and previously unseen."
Key Insights
- Curiosity requires feeling safe in the body
- The body can be either passive/reactive OR actively exploring
- Tension and overwhelm can be transformed into spaciousness
- Somatic awareness creates natural openings rather than forced inquiry
- Curiosity is about noticing "what is present, possible, and previously unseen"
Living in Places: Somatic Connection to Environment
From the transcript, Eve expanded on how living in specific places deepens curiosity:
"I live in a lot of places. I live in my body, I live on planet Earth, and I live, um, in this specific place, uh, within this watershed."
"And so for me, uh, I'm drawn to open spaces. And not, um, I don't feel drawn to... asking other people's questions."
This reveals Eve's approach to curiosity as place-based and embodied rather than abstract or purely intellectual.
Going to the Creek: Embodied Curiosity in Practice
Eve shared a concrete example of somatic curiosity:
"going to the creek, looking at the tadpoles"
This simple image captures her approach:
- Direct experience over abstract learning
- Somatic engagement with the natural world
- Present-moment awareness of what's actually there
- Place-specific curiosity rooted in watershed and ecology
The creek and tadpoles aren't metaphors - they're the actual practice of embodied, place-based curiosity.
Somatic Living vs Abstract Inquiry
Eve distinguished her approach from conventional curiosity:
"I don't feel drawn to... asking other people's questions."
This suggests:
- Somatic curiosity follows the body's authentic interests
- Not performing curiosity to meet social expectations
- Authentic engagement with what genuinely calls to us
- Place and body as guides for what to investigate
Teaching and Learning
Gil Friend quoted Eve:
"I love 'be a teacher or help people learn'!"
This suggests Eve distinguishes between directive teaching and facilitative learning, with the latter supporting curiosity.
Themes Eve Explored
Related Participants
- Jerry Michalski - Captured her sense of place concept
- Victoria (Spain) - Added Eve's concept to the Excalidraw board
- Kevin Jones - Warm greeting and desire to connect
- Gil Friend - Appreciated her teaching/learning distinction
Related Concepts
Pages that link to this page
- Start Here
- Victoria (Spain)
- Alphabetical Index
- Body Wisdom
- Concept Index
- Embodied Curiosity
- Etymology of Curiosity
- Excalidraw Board
- Excalidraw
- Fear and Self-Preservation
- Genuine vs Performative Curiosity
- Kevin Jones
- Noticing and Attention
- Participants Hub
- Presence
- README
- Safety and Curiosity
- Sense of Place
- Somatic Experiencing
- Spaciousness
- Why Is Curiosity Important
- Work Log