Thoughts and views about writing, researching and creating. All the doubts and wonders I come across, all the surprises and discovery of new roads I am lucky to experience when working with my non-fiction texts. A big and warm welcome to you, I’m very happy to see you here. - Majken xx
“Curiosity killed the cat” the saying goes. I don’t believe that. Actually, I think it is quite the opposite. Curiosity is what keeps us alive and going.
At least I know that if I hadn’t had a certain amount of curiosity in my life, there are lots of things I would never have experienced. I would - probably - have lived a more Hobbit in the Shire-type of existence. A nice and quiet being with not too many adventures and happenings weaved into it. Or, more precisely, with no adventures and experiences weaved into it at all! Like…just a cup of coffee in the morning, a bit of work and then some tea and a sandwich in the afternoon. A polite “hello there” to my neighbours on my early evening walk and then rounding up the day with a bit of reading before I'm off to bed.
Sounds cosy, right? Okay, perhaps it sounds a bit static in the long run too. How lucky it is then that curiosity has a tendency to sneak in somewhere between the tea and the reading.
It pops up and tells you to go in a certain direction and you just go - no matter how inconvenient it might be. Certainly it never brings up practical dimensions such as “Can this happen?” (curiosity is an igniter, not a handyman!).
In my experience, curiosity often begins as a tiny flicker of ‘something’, a little voice that reaches my (inner) ear or a small happening that I tend to notice more than other small happenings. Something catches my attention, and I know that I start to feel a strong urge to look into it once it occurs.
Writing this somehow made me think of a family dog we once had. He was a big, white, furry Samoyed and the kindest creature you can imagine. One day when I had taken him for a walk, he suddenly rushed into a bush next to the sidewalk. When he returned, a small bird was lying quietly between his jaws. He then looked at me puzzled as if he was asking: “I’m a bit desperate here, can you please tell me what to do next?” He simply didn’t know what this thing he had in his mouth was, it seemed, less why he had rushed into the bush to place it there.
Curiosity kind of works that way too, I find. It pops up and tells you to go in a particular direction, and then you just go - no matter how inconvenient it might be. Certainly, it never brings up practical dimensions such as “Can this happen?” (curiosity is an igniter, not a handyman!). No, what curiosity does is to bring a small corner of something to the table. Then it hands it over, and from here, it’s up to you to figure out how to make something out of it.
Oooh, how exhausting it is. And how exciting too.
That is, by the way, another thing about curiosity; It is very persistent. It can stay right next to you for a long time, just waiting for you to see it, hear it and - not least - follow it.
Curiosity has sent me on several journeys throughout my life. Big trips to faraway places around the world and small adventures in my local neighbourhood.
My latest curiosity-driven project is to write a book. It all began about fifteen years ago when I read this story about a boy from a remote area in Greenland. Later I bumped into that very same story again, and I still thought it was incredibly exciting, although sad too. I saw before me - in some vague sight - how it would be fantastic if it were put together in a version serving a younger (minded) audience. Then the idea rested for several years until curiosity made me look at it again. And here I am today, searching through piles of newspaper articles and contacting people here and there around the world to make it happen. Gosh! If I had only known what reading that first copy would lead me to.
That is, by the way, another thing about curiosity; It is very persistent. It can stay right next to you for a long time, just waiting for you to see it, hear it and - not least - follow it. But…doesn’t it take a whole lot of courage to tread that path?
In Haruki Murakami’s book “The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle”, two characters discuss how curiosity and courage are kind of similar. Or at least how they sometimes overlap. Curiosity turns you on, and then it leaves you to make it on your own - with whatever guts you can muster, one of them says.
I agree that sometimes curiosity sends you into such strange and unusual land that everything can feel somewhat scary. This is when you need to bring your guts out of hiding, as the Murakami character puts it.
However, at other times curiosity works on a much calmer level, I find, a level where it gently taps on your shoulder to make you step just a little outside that main road you usually tend to take. In those situations, following the 'curiosity call' is merely a matter of doing it instead of not doing it - and not about courage and guts, I believe.
What is curiosity to you?
Curiosity can send you on big adventures. But it can just as well lead you to do tiny small things that end up making your day just a little more thrilling than you thought it would be when you stepped out of bed in the morning. Which is wonderful. Certainly, curiosity is not here to kill the cat. It is here to keep us going. At least in my version of it.
What is curiosity to you? When was the last time you did something because curiosity knocked on your door? And what happened next? I’d love to hear your thoughts and experiences. Please feel free to drop me a line - follow this link. Thanks.
Majken xx
WHAT IS THIS? This is a blog post from me to you. I send it out once every fortnight - if you want to join my email list please go HERE.
In turn, you will receive ‘a handful of history’, which is me sharing real-life stories from around the world, narratives I’ve picked that are rooted in history one way or another.
Every other time, my latest act, ‘from my corner of the world’, will land in your email. These are texts in which I share with you thoughts and views about writing, researching and creating. All the doubts and wonders I come across, all the surprises and discovery of new roads I am lucky to experience when working with my non-fiction texts.
Thanks for reading. I’m happy and grateful to see you here! Majken xx
Comments