Hello 2016!
How are you? I hope you have been able to take enough time off from your 9 to 5 to relax and forget what day of the week it is. That’s the best thing about holidays I reckon, having no idea if it’s Wednesday or Saturday. I miss those days already!
I’ve been thinking about time, reflections, resolutions and intentions. I wonder how we became so hard-wired to hit the reset button every three hundred and sixty something days. Just FYI, 2016 is a leap year, so all those memes floating around about the next 365 days of awesome have been making me especially twitchy.
I’ve been reading about people’s hopes for this year on social media, from decluttering to diets, to doing more of what makes you happy or less of what’s expected.
Will this be your best year ever? Honestly, I don’t know. It’s worth a crack, if you can manage not to turn your resolve/desire into a yoke around your neck.
A lot of people seem to be moving away from resolutions, and choosing a single word to express their intentions for the remaining 356 days of the year. I’m not sure if I think that’s more than semantics, but hey, whatever floats your boat, right?
As I read more blog posts and Facebook soliloquies about setting intentions, I began to wonder if I could distill things down to a single word. I don’t think I change tack drastically on an annual basis, so that aspect of it doesn’t appeal to me. I don’t need to pivot from one annual goal to another, that’s not how I roll.
I pondered, came up empty, and moved on. No biggie.
Yesterday, I went to the library, and as I scanned the shelves and picked out books on botanical art, the sun, planets and the universe, and artists I want to know more about, I realised that I could pick a word that describes me, rather than my annual intention, with ease.
Curious.
I’m curious.
Of course, I’m other things too, but I think curious is an over-arching descriptor I’m comfortable with.
I’ve always been a “why is the sky blue?” kind of person. I read the answer again yesterday, it’s something about lightwaves or blue being god’s fave colour or something super technical.
I love questions.
I’m a wonderer.
Right now, I’m sitting in my house, on a planet that’s spinning around a fiery star that is millions of kilometres away. How the heck does that work?
As I read about the sun and orbit paths and how many moons Jupiter has yesterday, I wrote this down:
SO MUCH IS GOING ON RIGHT NOW to keep us alive.
That’s a BIG thought – a source of WONDER.
Dry, scientific answers don’t quash my curiousity/curiosity**. The facts don’t rob me of wonder.
Trees and blue skies and skittish clouds sometimes take my breath away.
I think cameras and television signals and fax machines are magic.
Don’t even get me started on the immediacy of the interweb!
The way our sense of smell can transport a person through decades, that’s incredible.
Birds flying and swooping without stacking into each other – I mean, come on, that shit is cool!
I’m curious.
I’m filled with wonder.
That won’t be changing as January 1, 2017 ticks over.
I hope it never changes.
One way I can ensure it never changes is to feed my curiousity**. That’s why I love the library. As I stood in the reference section yesterday, my curiousity was piqued. Languages, birds and animals, flora, biology, physics, art, so many topics to explore, all within arm’s reach.
If you think about it, everything stems from being curious. Everything.
If someone didn’t wonder what was over the hill, or dream of sailing beyond the horizon, or ponder the seasons or plot the stars or invent electricity…. well, you wouldn’t be reading this blog, would you?
Do you set intentions each year?
What word describes you?
Are you curious like I am?
Do you remember The Curiousity Show??
Tell me everything.
Annette
**Now I’m curious about whether I’ve misspelt curiousity/curiosity in this post! Damn you US-centric spell check!! Which way do you spell it?
I Give You The Verbs 
hi Annette! … I love this post hun!
I love curiosity and it may have killed the cat! … but at least he/she was figuring stuff out!;))
everything is interesting when one goes a bit deeper to find out how it ticks!
I don’t do resolutions but like to remain in a state of flux! … which ever they way the wind blows I wish to be evolving to the end of my days!
i’m not much of a planner, and resolutions box me in too much!!!
here’s to curiosity! much love m:)X
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I think we are cut from the same cloth Merilyn!
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came across this guy who I thought nailed water colour application!
alphonsodunn you tube
nice happy music too!
love mx
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I loved The Curiosity Show! I had the books too. Did you? I’m not really a scientifically curious person. Curious about people and politics, yes, but science? Nup. To those who are, I say ‘thank you’ for your scientific endeavours that benefit me but I just glaze over when it gets into anything too science-y. I’m sure there’s a reason why the apple fell from the tree but I’m not too fussed finding out why ( I do know it’s gravity, fear not!). I don’t do resolutions but I like to think of endeavours I can undertake that simulate me creatively or intellectually. A word for me – hmm. I can think of two – empathetic and conscientious. Love your curiosity, Annette x
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I didn’t know there were books, I’ll have to investigate those.
I think your two words are spot on.
I’m selectively curious and definitely choose how deep to dive in. Science bamboozles me, as my blue sky explanation testifies, I am just amazed that we are spinning through space and we don’t get dizzy.
I never want to feel blasé about the extraordinary thing it is to be alive and creative.
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Always curious about everything. Love this post and love the library. I have chosen space this year as my word and so far so good. Spent the evening with some champagne and old garden state dvd. I never ever ever do that. Here’s to staying curious and making space for just doing nothing.
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Space is a brilliant word for the year, for life! Carve it out and I know you’ll feel the benefits. Cheers!
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Great post as always Annette! And now I’m definitely curious about the Curiousity Show and my spelling of curiousity has also got me curious the more I look at it. Life is curious and full of wonder and magic. I’m exploring a lot of magic stuff just now as I’m reading ‘The Magic’ by Rhonda Byrne. I love the tangents that curiousity leads to…
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The tangents are the best aren’t they? Some of the things I’m most curious about now weren’t on my radar even two or three years ago. I love that!! Stay curious Rebecca.
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Funny about the 365/366 days thing! I went through last year thinking it was a 52 week year and when I got to about week 50, I realized that there were 53 weeks and I ended up with my final week being 53/52! Oops.
I think curiosity is a marvelous thing along with observation, the perfect pair.
xxx
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Observation is so important! Fuels our creativity every day.
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Happy new year, Annette! I love your curiosity – my main character in my kids’ book has curiosity has her main quality – she is always exploring, always wondering.
I’m a bit like Carolyn – not so interested in science curiosity but people curiosity – now, that’s fascinating!
My word for the year is flow – in life, in creativity, in parenting, in relationships, in work.
Keep blogging – love your work!
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Hey Karen, flow is a great way to approach the year. Love that.
I don’t really have a scientific brain – my curiosity leaves me stumped by wonder!
Like you, I think it is people who are ultimately fascinating.
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I’m a wonderer too. I get it about blue skies and skittish clouds (in fact the words “skittish clouds” gets me!). I think my word is me. Not in an all-about-me, only-thinking-of-me way, but more in an approaching-empty-nest way and thinking about what I could do, could be, can give kind of way. I’ve been following you on Instagram for a but, nice to come over here and read up.
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Hi Kathy! I’m so glad you popped over. Skittish is such a fabulous word, especially followed by clouds (my obsession).
Your comment made my day 😍
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