WEBVTT - Look for curiosity close to home

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good morning.

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<v Speaker 1>This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's

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<v Speaker 1>tip is to look for curiosity close to home. Going

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<v Speaker 1>deeper on a topic you see frequently could be a

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<v Speaker 1>lot of fun and can make your environment feel more meaningful.

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<v Speaker 1>Today's tip comes from Rachel Wilkerson Miller. author of the

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<v Speaker 1>forthcoming book, The Nice Life, how to elevate the everyday

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<v Speaker 1>and find joy in what you have. She shared some

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<v Speaker 1>of her recommendations for leading a nice life in an

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<v Speaker 1>interview with NPR's Life Kit podcast. One of her suggestions

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<v Speaker 1>was to look for curiosity close to home. She gave

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<v Speaker 1>the example of becoming curious about her own New York neighborhood,

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<v Speaker 1>where I'm sure there are all sorts of wonderful bits

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<v Speaker 1>of architecture, urban design, history, shops, and the like. Now,

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<v Speaker 1>I don't live in New York, and likely you don't either,

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<v Speaker 1>but my guess is wherever you are, if you looked around,

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<v Speaker 1>you would find topics close to home that you are

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<v Speaker 1>curious about too. You might be curious about the plants

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<v Speaker 1>in your yard or in a neighborhood park. You might

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<v Speaker 1>wonder about the birds that come to your bird feeder.

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<v Speaker 1>Perhaps you are curious about notable alumni of your college

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<v Speaker 1>or high school, or famous people who grew up in

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<v Speaker 1>your town. Maybe you're curious about your house or apartment

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<v Speaker 1>building itself. I know of someone who researched the history

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<v Speaker 1>of her house and then planned its 100th birthday party.

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<v Speaker 1>I bet if you thought about it, you could list

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<v Speaker 1>a dozen or more topics close to home that you

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<v Speaker 1>are curious about. Then, once you've got the list, choose

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<v Speaker 1>one or two to go deep on. This can be

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<v Speaker 1>a fun way to direct your leisure time. Lots more

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<v Speaker 1>fun than aimless scrolling. And it might suggest all sorts

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<v Speaker 1>of adjacent topics you'd like to learn about, too. For instance,

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<v Speaker 1>if you want to know about the plants and animals

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<v Speaker 1>near you, you could go to the library or a

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<v Speaker 1>local bookstore and get a book about your area's native

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<v Speaker 1>flora and fauna. There are also lots of apps that

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<v Speaker 1>can be helpful. I use the Picture This app to

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<v Speaker 1>identify plants in my yard. The Merlin app is great

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<v Speaker 1>for identifying birds by their song or their appearance. The

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<v Speaker 1>iNaturalist app helps you identify wildlife and keep track of

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<v Speaker 1>what you've seen and heard. The internet can also be

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<v Speaker 1>your friend. If you want to know about famous alums

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<v Speaker 1>of your alma mater, or famous residents of your town,

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<v Speaker 1>or a historic event that happened nearby, just do a

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<v Speaker 1>search and see what comes up. There might be Wikipedia

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<v Speaker 1>articles or local news articles. Lots of libraries have local

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<v Speaker 1>resource sections. My guess is the librarians will be happy

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<v Speaker 1>to direct you. It is fun to explore anything you

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<v Speaker 1>are interested in. I have loved watching my kids become

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<v Speaker 1>obsessive about their particular interests, like the world's oldest people

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<v Speaker 1>or historic box office sales patterns. There are a million

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<v Speaker 1>things we could read in this world. So why not

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<v Speaker 1>read a lot on a particular topic? If the topic

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<v Speaker 1>is close to home, this can give you a new

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<v Speaker 1>window onto daily life. You'll find out things you can

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<v Speaker 1>share with friends or family or colleagues, because likely they

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<v Speaker 1>are experiencing some of these things too. Who wouldn't want

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<v Speaker 1>to hear the ghost story associated with that historic house

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<v Speaker 1>near downtown? That is a much more interesting story for

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<v Speaker 1>a Monday than the What did you do this weekend?

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<v Speaker 1>Nothing much. Conversation that often happens. The world is full

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<v Speaker 1>of wonders. So seek curiosity close to home and you

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<v Speaker 1>will find those wonders and probably have a lot of

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<v Speaker 1>fun at the same time. In the meantime, this is Laura.

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<v Speaker 1>Thanks for listening. And here's to making the most. Thanks

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<v Speaker 1>for listening to Before Breakfast. If you've got questions, ideas,

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<v Speaker 1>or feedback, you can reach me at laura at lauravandercam.com.

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<v Speaker 1>Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartMedia. For more podcasts

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