Braving the Hot Mess
Check out Braving the Hot Mess on Facebook
  • Blog
  • My Story
  • Documentaries and Videos Worth Your Time
  • Books I Love
  • Vegan Recipes
  • Meditations
  • Affirmations
  • Tracy's Upcoming Events
  • Contact
  • Testimonials

Curiosity Killed The Cat

7/7/2020

1 Comment

 
Picture
You've probably heard the phrase "Curiosity killed the cat" at some point growing up. Most likely in response to the endless questions that are typically posed by a young child. Why? Why? Why? I can still hear it ringing in my ears from when my children were much younger. 

We are also conditioned to not question authority, to not question society, to not question the status quo, to not question our teachers, our leaders, our elders, our politicians, etc. To some degree we stop questioning, stop being curious, stop learning. 

On some level maybe we don't want to give away that it's something we don't already know. To be curious implies that we don't already have all of the answers. Or, is it that as adults we don't have the time to be curious? We are so busy with our lives and running on the hamster wheel that we simply don't have the time, capacity, desire to engage in the effort of being curious. 

Film and television producer Brian Grazer in his book, A Curious Mind: The Secret to a Bigger Life, shares his ideas on expanding our curiosity, a trait he attributes to his success and says should be as much a part of our culture as creativity and innovation. Brian made a decision early on in his career to seek out "curiosity conversations" with at least one new person each day. He stresses how all of us can benefit from this practice of stepping outside our comfort zones. 


Brian shares examples of how these "curiosity conversations" helped his career, opened up doors for him, and caused him to be a more connected and interesting person. I love the idea of engaging in curiosity conversations. Conversations where we are just really trying to connect with another human being and learn about them, their life, their interests, their passions, their career, their thoughts, their opinions. What an easy and powerful way to gain awareness of our world, gain perspective, see life through another lens, gain empathy, gain knowledge. 

Here's another way to look at the concept of holding "curiosity conversations"...We've all had conversations with people where we walk away feeling good about the person, like they heard us, were interested in us. On the flip side, we've all had conversations where we walked away and felt like we were "talked to", not understood, not heard, or where the person wasn't really present. I aspire for my interactions with people to end with them feeling acknowledged versus disregarded. We've all felt the difference. 

The concept of leading a curious life appeals to me. I don't want to squelch my curiosity or that of others. I don't want to just follow the status quo, or what someone, or what society tells me I should be thinking or asking about. I choose to not be so busy all the time that I don't have a few minutes to engage in a real conversation.

It's important for us to explore, to question, to engage in life. Be curious about other people, be curious about where our food comes from, be curious about our spirituality, be curious about other cultures and races, be curious about what our heart is telling us, be curious about our purpose, the list is endless. 
I invite each of us to engage in more "curiosity conversations". See what opens up to you as you get more curious about life.

Sidenote:
Everyone knows that, despite its supposed nine lives, curiosity killed the cat. Well, not quite. The 'killed the cat' proverb originated as 'care killed the cat'. By 'care' the coiner of the expression meant 'worry/sorrow' rather than our more usual contemporary 'look after/provide for' meaning. Now that I can get onboard with...Worry killed the cat :)
1 Comment
write my papers link
7/11/2020 08:34:02 pm

This is a pretty hard item to find, but I know that you can do it. You managed to do all sorts of stuff already, so this is nothing new to you. I hope that you can do it a lot sooner, though. I want to see you reach your dreams, and this exactly the way to do it. If you are not happy with it, then just try harder, you will find it sooner or later, I believe in you.

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    RSS Feed

    Archive 

    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015

    Picture

      Please sign up to receive weekly new blog posts. 

    Submit
Proudly powered by Weebly