Sunday Night With John: Stay Curious, My Friends

Stay Curious, My Friends

John Paul Derryberry

"I'm always curious to see what moment becomes the focus for your blogs," said one of my readers that I interact with reasonably often. My reply was, "Thank you for reading." What I wished I had said was, "Me too!" Even excellent storytellers have moments they want to do over for more significant impact. I do not plan these blogs out too far in advance. I have found that when I attempt that type of forward-planning, my writing suffers. While I will admit, in the middle of a great life moment, I file away the thought about would, should, and could this be a blog. I do not purposefully go into any action thinking, I cannot wait to turn this into a blog. 

I think that cheats life, takes away the spontaneity of how a chance encounter can change our trajectory in life. The most significant thing about our time on thIs planet is the moments we didn't see coming and our response to them. Whether it's a moment of intense sadness like having one of our potential adoptions fall through or a moment of euphoria or joy from a phone call from a past client informing me they had graduated college, the deepest conveyable emotion must come from genuine places. 

Maybe this is why, despite our ability to connect faster and more often through technology, people are reporting in higher numbers extreme feelings of loneliness and sadness.  We've lost the rush of spontaneity, we fear the sting of surprises, and we attempt to achieve predictability. We strive to craft life moments to shape the world's image of us. The rise of the influencers and a seemingly perfect world is why a simple comment from an avid reader sent me down the rabbit hole of why I choose certain moments over others to blog about. 

I couldn't have predicted they would make that comment or the effect it would have on me. Nor was the topic about curiosity even on the shortlist for blogs this week, until they dropped a simple inquiry into my life that I didn't see coming.  After spending the majority of the week thinking about the moments I pick, I can't say there is some algorithm I compute that tells me what to write about or a pattern I can discern.  

What it comes down to, I write about the moments in my life that cause the most significant examination of my experience. I used to not be curious about life and felt I had the answers. Then I met people from other countries, different sexualities, and varying social-economical backgrounds, and they gifted me with curiosity. They handed me the idea that no one has all the answers and there are many paths to success. There are excellent connections to be made and many places worth going during our time on this earth.  There are a million stories to tell, not just my own. Lastly, the impact we can have on our world around us can be immense if we stay curious about this thing called life. I have fewer answers now than ever before, and tons more questions. Life is better that way.