Tonight I ran across a blog by a woman in Australia ( found on Pat Workman's delightful site) and enjoyed her musings very much.
She wrote about the value of being curious and how this trait enriches our lives. I think scientists must be the most curious of people. Their work on research of whatever subject matter, is benefited by their curiosity to find an answer.
I think my early love of reading was born from an innate curiosity to know more than I could learn from my surroundings on a farm in Georgia. I have never lived in a large city, and I don't think I would ever want to live in a large city, but my curiosity about city life has led me to read many books and stories based in New York or Los Angeles. My curiosity about the life style of a woman there drives me to put myself in her place for a few hours. How does one live in NYC without a car? How does one take public transportation everywhere? Does she have to plan for extra time to make sure she isn't late because she can't get a taxi or misses the bus? And all that traffic - how do you handle the traffic jams when you must make your flight out by a certain time? I'm curious. What about those days when it snows? How do people get to work in all that snow?
Those questions must seem silly to one who lives or has lived in large cities, but I've heard some questions from city dwellers about rural life that seems a bit silly to me.
Just yesterday, my brother-in-law, who grew up in Chicago, listened to some of us telling about life on the farm in years past.
"My mother would just go out and kill a chicken when unexpected company arrived," I said, "and she would clean it, cut it up and fry it. She'd make biscuits and gravy and feed a car full of hungry Florida relatives."
"My mother would just go out and kill a chicken when unexpected company arrived," I said, "and she would clean it, cut it up and fry it. She'd make biscuits and gravy and feed a car full of hungry Florida relatives."
He shook his head and said, "I understand about killing a chicken, but doesn't it have to be refrigerated first before you eat it?"
Curiosity is necessary for writing, I believe. For many, many years, I've been an eavesdropper on conversations around me. I have often said to my husband, "Did you hear what that couple was talking about?"
Incredulous, he'd respond, "Of course not. Why would I want to listen to their conversation?"
That was one big difference between us. I was curious about people. He was more observant of things around him. He would remember an object hanging on a wall in an office, but I'd remember the man's facial expressions when he discussed his son's lack of interest in football.
Sometimes curiosity can over-reach into nosiness, poking into one's private business. We have to be careful there. My husband often reined me in when I'd ask questions of others that he considered too personal.
Part of my enjoyment of people is learning about their lives, what they like, dislike, where they have lived and what they find important in life. I am definitely a curious person, and maybe that is why, like the Australian lady I continue to enjoy learning. She earned her college degree after she retired at age sixty. Now she is off on a new career.
I am off on a new way of life, and I am curious as to what will develop down the road. I don't think I'll ever stop being curious, therefore, I'll not stop wanting to meet interesting people, and I'll not stop wanting to learn new things.
