Curiosity Thrilled the Cat

Curiosity has given me so much in life. Without that unbounding curiosity I’d know and feel so much less. Treasures abound with a curiosity-filled life.

There can be a down-side to curiosity. You hear in life that you should follow your passion, implying there is one thing, and one thing only, you should do with your life. But, what if you have many passions? Are you doomed to having to choose just one to create your life around, or will you be frozen in indecision?

No! Don’t let it be so. Stay with me here.

Consider, if you will, that you can choose one passion after another to follow and make something even bigger and better with your life by following all of your passions. Your world will be so much more fulfilling and joyful if you open your options and potentials, rather than limit them. Sounds appealing, doesn’t it?

A friend, after reviewing the titles in my bookcase, once commented that I have eclectic tastes. Those eclectic interests have opened many worlds and adventures to me. At first I was taken aback, but then realized what a gift he gave me by opening my eyes to my true inner self.

By following my curiosity I’ve learned about nutrition and used that knowledge to stay healthy. Can you eat an organic, locally-sourced diet on a tight budget of $35 per week? Curiosity led me to explore that, and I learned that indeed you can…with a little planning. And you can even eat out by bumping that tight budget to $50 per week. Sweet!

Another curiosity-led path has opened art to me. I can draw better, make collages (aka mixed media art), and paint glass objects. I re-learned playing the piano with applied curiosity, and lessons from a fabulous teacher. My singing improved with singing classes! And no, I won’t sing for you, though I may join you in song in the right situation.

Curiosity has allowed me to learn to decorate to my heart’s content. Every design a home? Curiosity gave me what it takes to design my own home, and then supervise its construction. Then there’s the curiosity that led me to plant a xeric landscape, at different homes. Vegetable gardening, hunting/fishing, and meat processing happened in my life because of diverse inquisitiveness. Studying feng shui taught be about simplifying design and decor, and you can feel the difference in my home.

Travel adventures have spun out of my eagerness to know the world. The question of how blue is the Danube River led me to journey there to see the sights. It’s not blue, but it is beautiful and as swirling as the waltz named for it. The Great Wall is indeed great, and I can imagine how it changed the world when it was built so many centuries ago. There are 21 different kinds of paprika peppers; did you know that? Raw sea urchins don’t taste good to me. The Grand Canyon is indeed grand, and so are the Waimea and Black Canyons

Traveling by train opens you to new experiences by interacting with people you might not meet other ways. Did you know that there are Amish onion growers who grow onions just for McDonald’s, and they use cell phones to stay in touch with their clients? That discovery sure changed my understanding of how the Amish “don’t adopt modern technology”. Cruises can do the same thing for you, opening your eyes to tastes, colors, and cultures you miss by staying home. Brazilians sure love to dance and party!

French, German, Spanish, dabbles of Vietnamese, Chinese, and Bulgarian, and American sign language have exposed me to new ways of thinking and living.

There are many ways to meditate too. Walking meditations. Sound meditations. Still meditations. Going-inside-yourself and going-outside-yourself meditations. Meditative prayer. Labyrinth mediation. There’s meditation for everyone! It just takes a little interest to explore your options.

How do these shared vignettes and questions apply to you following your passion to success? To show you that variety is delightful, refreshing, energizing, and mind expanding. Each interest explored opens you to being able to appreciate more than before, and exposes you to other interests to follow. Each time you follow a glimmering light or an interest, your fears of the unknown dwindle and your self-confidence blossoms a bit more.

By having many interests I now have many talents. I have catered events, been a cord-line telephone and a teletype operator, been a computer programmer, as well as a B&B innkeeper and B&B consultant and realtor, a public speaker, and a coach. Skills I have picked up like drawing maps (by hand and by computer) and reading them, ham radio operator, EMT, plumbing and wiring, and publishing books have contributed to each career I have had.

Following my passions has done anything but confine me to one success, or frozen me in indecision.

Each of those abilities makes me more confident. Each bit of confidence gives me more ability to pivot and adapt to the knew opportunities before me.

Curiosity thrilled the cat, and I’m one content cat.

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