Curiosity
“Re-examine
all that you have been told...dismiss that which insults your soul.”
Walt
Whitman
Curiosity is a mammalian
trait. My little dog Liza pokes her nose into everything. Her
curiosity drives her, and her sense of smell, a thousand times more
sensitive than mine, informs her. I only wish she could speak so I
would know what information she derives from a pile of wet leaves at
the curb. Barley, the hound that comes to my house most days, will
stand at the base of a tree and watch squirrel antics for hours. When
she's inside, she stands at the window to watch them. I have it in
mind that she wonders how on earth they run up and down trees, when
she is stuck on the ground.
We humans are curious
beings, too. Curious in our ways, and in our minds. We wonder about
all sorts of things, but mostly about one another. Walt Whitman was
an advocate for having a curious mind. He said, for instance, “Be
curious, not judgmental.” I haven't mastered that judgmental part
yet! Being curious involves informing oneself first hand rather than
accepting as gospel the truths of another. It involves pulling apart
our own foundation of beliefs and dissecting them for value. Some of
the things I was taught as a child, when observed close up, are
insults to my soul. All the “isms” for instance—racism, sexism,
anti-antisemitism, nationalism, communism—all of which, had I
continued to subscribe to my childhood teachings, would have made for
a very fearful life. Fear is the one emotion that can cancel our
curiosity.
e.e. cummings wrote,
“Once we believe in ourselves, we can risk curiosity, wonder,
spontaneous delight, or any experience that reveals the human
spirit.” Becoming strong in one's sense of self is foundational for
a lifetime of curiosity. I can't imagine living any other way.
In the Spirit,
Jane
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