My Two-Cents: Curiosity Cured the Cat
Happy summer! Ns2c is back from hiatus and in full spring.
Let’s begin with a new tidbit that’s been on my mind – Did Curiosity really kill the cat?
I’m not much of a cat person. This notion is twofold: I am allergic to cats, and if given a choice, I prefer dogs. But the cat and I do have one thing in common – we are both curious bastards. And popular wisdom would have it that curiosity is a lethal trait. Which I’m starting to think is a load of shit.
I have bones to pick with the claim that curiosity is the secret killer. I’d argue it’s the opposite; curiosity is the cure. There are so many ways to fade into the abyss of routine and become a passerby in your own life. Curiosity serves as a frequent reminder of the rawness and reality at our feet. A personal EKG – a jolt to remind you that the world is still weird, wonderful, and worth exploring.
The saying isn’t only wrong in substance, but also in species. Curiosity didn’t kill the cat. But there is an adjacent mammal that may be at risk for extinction. (Metaphorically and Literally.) Expectation might execute the elephant.
Where curiosity asks "what if?", expectation assumes. It replaces wonder with routine, and risk with prediction. These are both healthy in normal dosages, but an excess can push the user towards lethal territory. Switching our default modes from curiosity to expectation isn’t always drastic – often it's as slight as a slow fade into numbness, similar to when your favorite song becomes background noise. And when we fall into a routine -- when we become victims of expectation -- we stop seeing things with the wet ears and bright eyes we had at first. Some of that is normal. But now and then, it's important to pause and remember we are standing in a moment we once dreamed of reaching. Life becomes infinitely more beautiful when we realize we’re living in the afterglow of our former hopes.
Expectation syndrome threatens to take that revelation away. Expectation syndrome is also cumbersome to catch. But luckily, there is a cure. Or a cure-iosity -- which is a preventative measure, a prescription, and a defibrillator for when expectation flatlines your spirit.
Back pocket this Rx for when you begin to catch an expectation fever. Or in case you see an elephant near execution. Or a cat off its meds.
