Tell Us About…Curiosity

Last month I joined a fabulous group of women for a global writing challenge—Gail from Is This Mutton (UK) Deb from Deb’sWorld (Australia), Mary Katherine from MK’s Adventures in Style (USA),  Michelle from Following my Muse, Penny from Frugal Fashion Shopper (UK), Jill from Grownup Glamour (Australia), Australian blogger Sue Loncaric from Women Living Well After 50, Leslie Clingan from Once Upon a Time and Happily Ever After and Marsha from Marsha In The Middle.

On the third Thursday of every month we’ll respond to the prompt “Tell Us About XXX” which could cover any subject matter. It could be a blog post with opinions or memories; a poem,  photos, anything at all. Last month, the challenge was ‘Gardens & Gardening’ and was prompted by Penny from Frugal Fashion Shopper. This month, the prompt is ‘Curiosity’ and was set by Michelle.

I don’t think I was a particularly curious child…but as I’ve gotten older, that has certainly changed. I love learning new skills that intrigue me, but if I find the subject boring, then forget it! I need to have that curiosity to drive me.

I’m a sucker for an online course, especially when there’s a sale on. I just get sucked in and carried away. You wouldn’t believe the number of courses I’ve paid for, that I’m waiting for a rainy day to actually do them! I’m terrible. One of the most expensive ones is a course by a renowned portrait photographer that I started about three years ago and I just haven’t got round to finishing yet. I know exactly what my problem is…distraction. Other things distract me too easily and then I go down a different rabbit hole. I don’t think Alice would have followed the rabbit if she wasn’t curious, would she? I guess I’m kind of like Alice lol!

So it’s curiosity that made me buy online courses on photography, photoshop, affinity photo, Procreate, video production, digital painting, graphic design, NLP (Neuro Liguistic Programming), affinity designer, yoga, writing, confidence and self esteem (I’ve no idea why I signed up for that one lol!), super learning, blogging and…I think that covers them all! I guess I’ve got some serious learning to finish! When I turned 40, I also went away for a 30 day yoga teacher training course. That’s probably one of the only courses I’ve actually fully completed lol!

And then there’s all the books…! I go through curiosity phases with books. I buy the usual fiction rom-coms and urban fantasy (my two favourite genres), but I also buy books that I want to learn from. These are usually books about personal development, because that is a subject I believe we should all be curious about. Some of my favourite authors on the subject are Louise Hay, Wayne Dyer and Eckhart Tolle but there are countless amazing others that I can’t think of right now. I tend to read those kinds of books and get so excited by them that I’ll lend them to people and forget where they are. At the moment, one subject that I’m particularly curious about is Artificial Intelligence. Some people are worried it’s going to take over the world, but I think it’s going to make our lives better in the long run. I used AI to produce the photos for this blog post, by the way!

I used to work as a Features Writer before I became Assistant Editor and eventually, Editor, of a lifestyle magazine (I also wrote for a newspaper) and I loved going out to interview people about their lives. My curiosity helped me delve deeper and find out some really interesting facts about them, and our chats quite often ran longer than they should have done. I met some fascinating characters over the years doing that.

Curiosity has also led us to see some beautiful places. I’m one of those people who just wants to drive down that lane because I’ve never been there before and I want to see what’s around the corner! Michael and I especially love doing that when we’re away on holiday, down country roads or in big cities. I’m just curious to see as much as I possibly can. Some of our favourite holidays were road trips around Canada and the US, and more recently across parts of Europe, including Germany, France and Spain.

On the subject of curiosity, I will end with something that always make me smile. My brother was a very curious child. I’m about four years older than him, and he must have been about six when his curiosity drove us mad. We couldn’t do a thing without him asking, ‘but whyyyy?”, or ‘but howwww?’ And they were usually questions like, ‘why is the sky blue?’ or ‘why do we have five fingers?’ They were always questions my parents struggled to answer lol.

So let’s find out what all the other gals are curious about, shall we?

Sue from Women Living Well After 50 ponders what life would be like without curiosity and takes a look at the Five Dimensions of Curiosity. What would life be like without curiosity? – Women Living Well After 50

Michelle from Following My Muse writes about The Incredible Driving Force of Curiosity. Curiosity is defined as the desire to know or learn. But that seemingly simple desire is exactly what moves civilization forward. 

Leslie’s title is Ways I’m a Curiosity. Joining the Tell Us About link up and sharing a list of quirky things about her that make her rather a curiosity. 

Debbie from Deb’s World loves the word curiosity and has written about the way her grandchildren show their curiosity through the many questions they ask. Being curious is something we shouldn’t let go as we age. Find her post at Deb’s World.

Marsha came out of the womb curious. She has questions!  But, does she get answers? Read her post over at Marsha in the Middle.

Gail from Is This Mutton is so curious she created a blog 17 years ago called “A Curious Girl’s Guide to Life.”  Her interest in miscellany makes her a good addition to a pub quiz team. Find her post here.

Penny found this month’s theme quite the challenge and ended up with a mish-mash of a little bit of this and that, and ends with a sharp veer back to last month’s challenge of gardens when she becomes very curious about other people’s gardens! Find her post here> https://frugalfashionshopper.co.uk.