A Word Study [Curious]

cu·ri·ous  (ˈkyo͝orēəs)

adj.

1. Eager to learn more: curious investigators; a trapdoor that made me curious.

2. Unduly inquisitive; prying.

3. Arousing interest because of novelty or strangeness: a curious fact.

Society has labeled curiosity as a dangerous characteristic. All these phrases like ‘curiosity killed the cat’ and movies where the main plot is a good guy who gets ‘curious’ and finds out too much about the bad guy so they try to kill him. That’s not real life people. Of course, meddling around in someone else’s business is much different than the kind of curiosity that I’m encouraging.

Flowers my Wonderful Husband Gave Me

I’m going to step on my soap box for just a few words on one of the problems people have in this generation of technology and the American dream. Now, not everyone is like this, but there are enough to be dangerous and I believe it is one of the reasons that more and more people are looking to antidepressants to lift their spirits. People aren’t curious enough anymore. We’re just not as interested in learning about other people, cultures, countries, traditions, rarities. Somehow we are content enough to stay in our own little bubble and focus on ourselves and the problems we have. Not that problems don’t need attention, but there are so many issues that get exaggerated in importance and if we just didn’t focus on ourselves so much to begin with, they probably wouldn’t even exist.

I’m going to step down now but this is what I want Kiss Kreativ to help address: inspiring curiosity… Provide an outlet for people to learn and ask the right questions. Now how I’m going to do that is another issue.

What does that look like? For me, these are the things I am practicing doing now:

1. Read a lot
2. As I’m reading, if I don’t know what something is, look it up—the internet is a great resource for curiosity (it just shouldn’t stop there)
3. Look to have conversations with people around me and not talk about yourself
4. Draw
5. Write—the more I write, the more I realize how much I don’t know

I have never regretted going out of my comfort zone to challenge my curiosity—not one time. Do it and write about it. That’s what I want to encourage. This blog is absolutely pulling me out of my comfort zone and I am enjoying every minute of it.

A Word Study [Creative]

»cre·a·tive  (krēātiv)

adj.

1. Having the ability or power to create: Human beings are creative animals.

2. Productive; creating.

3. Characterized by originality and expressiveness; imaginative: creative writing.

n.

One who displays productive originality: the creatives in the advertising department.

Peacock Feathers I Use to Decorate With

»As weird as I am always afraid that I am (did that make sense??), I have found that I am happiest when I am creating something. Whether it is through music, or drawing, or writing, or just giving a hug. If I am inspiring some feeling of productivity or goodness in either myself or another person I feel very full.

»We are designed in the image of the Creator of the Universe—don’t you think at least some of that creativity has rubbed off on us? Clearly not at a God-like level (we can’t make something out of nothing), but God loved designing and creating and I strongly feel that we don’t encourage our own urges enough.

»We get paralyzed by what other people might think of what we come up with, whether they will like it enough, and so we don’t do anything. How can that be right? I have had plenty of the same thoughts myself and am still working to overcome this fear of man that everyone in the world struggles with at some level.

»All I know is I want to leave something behind that shows some semblance of truly appreciating the beauty of this world and having contributed something to it myself. As small or insignificant as it might realistically be in the grand scheme of the universe, I still want to contribute. We can get so distracted by things that don’t really matter very much and miss opportunities to enjoy beauty and participate in it.

This is an exciting journey on which I hope everyone who reads this will want to join me.