Graduation season is upon us. Time to consider the texture and trajectory of our days. Time to talk story. Here is one chapter.
I dwell in curiosity. When the bird flies behind the leaf, I'm up the tree. Oh, meow... Is this wise? I'm not sure, but it does lead to a form of wisdom. Call it noontime night sight.
When I was a kid, this meant I spent the majority of my days reading mystery novels, exploring construction sites, and quite literally swinging from branches. My friend Gwyn and I also invented a past time we called "trash pile collecting." I'll never forget returning triumphant to lay our day's treasure at the feet of her father, an avid classical music lover. We thought he'd be thrilled with the stacks of Chopin, Brahms, and Strauss, which we'd found down the road, only to discover that he was the one who had dumped them there in the first place.
Lesson one: It's the effort not the end that holds the joy.
Last Fall, I returned to my alma mater to give a career talk, which is funny because my professional path has always been driven more by serendipity and sensibility than any kind of plan or purpose. I called the talk "Slipstreaming 101," and encouraged the students to figure out what they love and dive in without worrying too much about where it will take them. I quoted Elliot: "We shall not cease from exploration/And the end of our all our exploring/Will be to arrive where we started/And know the place for the first time."
Lesson Two: Keep your eyes, your mind, and your heart open, always.
Last night, I attended the birthday party of an incredible woman at the home of another incredible woman. As the 20 or so of us went around the table making toasts, the common thread was our respect for how this intensely busy CEO, mom, and wife, honors her friendships and her family above all else. Another theme was the interconnectedness of these friendships -- how we'd all met at some point because one friend said: "you MUST meet my other amazing friend." Girlfriend Yentas unite! But making the circle of connections even wider, both the birthday girl and our hostess (another successful CEO) are using their positions and their networks to make life notably better for others around the world, not because corporate social responsibility is trendy, but because love is core to their characters.
Lesson Three: Be true to thy self so that you can be true to others.
Earlier this week, I went to a screening for the film World Peace and Other 4th-Grade Achievements. It Rocks! Inspiration on Volume Eleven. It tells the tale of a visionary teacher John Hunter, stoking the imaginations of school children by handing them the biggest challenge any of us can think of: achieving world peace. The tool is a game he creates, but the outcome is a group of kids who learn to be excited -- rather than scared -- by the unknown or seemingly impossible. Exploring potential, working collectively, taking chances, rolling with the punches, considering the greater good - these are lessons of a lifetime. The results are transformative both for the kids in the film and for the audience. See this movie.
Lesson Four: Chase the mad thrill of what you don't yet know.
So what is the fundamental benefit of all this curiosity? Simply everything. It means that you care and will allow people to care for you. It means you will never be bored and never be boring. It means you'll be able to draw lessons from any experience, be it pleasant or awful. Inquisitiveness matters. So does oddity. Pay attention and note what you find. It's Commencement time all the time. Dig dirt. Get grubby. Seek strange. Shed tears. Share self. Discover other. Be love.