Cultivating Curiosity
“The Seeker provides a society with the vitality essential for continued existence”- Joseph Campbell
“The seeker cannot resist the call of the Sirens. If you have heard the call you know how strong the pull is. Nothing can stop you. Parents, husband, kids, reason, lack of money, disinterest from the media, you have no choice but to obey the call. You have to follow your inner voice, no matter the consequences, and that is as old as human kind. It’s the stuff of legends and myths. What these stories have in common is the lone hero, a woman or man who goes out into the unknown to fight dragons and demons or to fulfill impossible tasks”.
Cultivating Curiosity is also about cultivating autonomy, mastery and purpose. Curiosity is about actively engaging in the deeply human need to direct one’s own life, to learn and create new things, and to do better by ourselves and our world.
I invite you to join the adventure!
Exploring Problems and Possibilities: Every Great Journey begins with Curiosity!
As our society grows more urban and complex, people long for unique and authentic opportunities to explore and learn about the world. This space serves two main purposes:
1.) Do the mysteries of the past hold the key to the present? I will open up extraordinary books, artifacts and places in the public archive, as sources of self-directed research and independent inquiry and
2.) I will demonstrate and communicate authentic and unique ways to nourish curiosity and cultivate autonomy, mastery and purpose. These are my stories, my explorations, my questions, my quests. These are examples of ways I honor my curiosity, how I do important work without permission, and ways I keep active in places where something might happen. By sharing my curious explorations and methods of cultivation, I hope to inspire, engage, and grow new seekers and curious explorers, planting the seeds for investigation, exploration, and independent inquiry which are critical to doing important and original work.
Check out my Journal and Quest pages to see for yourself
Antiquarian/Curious Explorer
I am a student of ancient books, documents, artifacts and monuments. I bring to life and uncover proof of stories that have been lost, hidden, or forgotten. I am a Guardian and Steward of old places and old stories, doing important work without permission, rediscovering ideas that so far have yet to be fully explored or are not sufficiently known or understood, and exploring lesser known treasures, rescuing them from oblivion to be released back into the world for everyone to experience. I brave the wilds of unusual and unconventional settings and methods of investigation, learning and discovery, and to do distinctive, important research and study just outside the mainstream
The Bakersfield Historical Society
I have had the pleasure of working with this organization for the past few years. I started as a volunteer on my summer vacation and now I have assumed many “unofficial” roles and responsibilities. Like any other non-profit, we wear many hats to accomplish the goals of the organization. I function at various times as an archivist, historian, curator, interpreter, researcher, historical archaeologist, preservationist, tour guide, and webmaster and community relations guru. I am also a member of the Board of Directors.
You can find me there at www.historicbakersfieldvt.org.
Curiosity is critical to fixing what is wrong in the world today. In a fast-paced, high-change and highly interconnected world, the people and ideas that thrive are those that are flexible and nimble, those that can easily and quickly evolve themselves so they can take up new opportunities. One of the most important skills to develop to take advantage of this flexibility is the ability to BE CURIOUS and to act on that curiosity.
