Look for curiosity close to home

Go deep on a topic you see in your daily life

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good morning.
This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's
tip is to look for curiosity close to home. Going
deeper on a topic you see frequently could be a

(00:23):
lot of fun and can make your environment feel more meaningful.
Today's tip comes from Rachel Wilkerson Miller. author of the
forthcoming book, The Nice Life, how to elevate the everyday
and find joy in what you have. She shared some
of her recommendations for leading a nice life in an

(00:45):
interview with NPR's Life Kit podcast. One of her suggestions
was to look for curiosity close to home. She gave
the example of becoming curious about her own New York neighborhood,
where I'm sure there are all sorts of wonderful bits
of architecture, urban design, history, shops, and the like. Now,

(01:07):
I don't live in New York, and likely you don't either,
but my guess is wherever you are, if you looked around,
you would find topics close to home that you are
curious about too. You might be curious about the plants
in your yard or in a neighborhood park. You might
wonder about the birds that come to your bird feeder.
Perhaps you are curious about notable alumni of your college

(01:29):
or high school, or famous people who grew up in
your town. Maybe you're curious about your house or apartment
building itself. I know of someone who researched the history
of her house and then planned its 100th birthday party.
I bet if you thought about it, you could list
a dozen or more topics close to home that you

(01:50):
are curious about. Then, once you've got the list, choose
one or two to go deep on. This can be
a fun way to direct your leisure time. Lots more
fun than aimless scrolling. And it might suggest all sorts
of adjacent topics you'd like to learn about, too. For instance,
if you want to know about the plants and animals

(02:11):
near you, you could go to the library or a
local bookstore and get a book about your area's native
flora and fauna. There are also lots of apps that
can be helpful. I use the Picture This app to
identify plants in my yard. The Merlin app is great
for identifying birds by their song or their appearance. The

(02:34):
iNaturalist app helps you identify wildlife and keep track of
what you've seen and heard. The internet can also be
your friend. If you want to know about famous alums
of your alma mater, or famous residents of your town,
or a historic event that happened nearby, just do a

(02:55):
search and see what comes up. There might be Wikipedia
articles or local news articles. Lots of libraries have local
resource sections. My guess is the librarians will be happy
to direct you. It is fun to explore anything you
are interested in. I have loved watching my kids become

(03:17):
obsessive about their particular interests, like the world's oldest people
or historic box office sales patterns. There are a million
things we could read in this world. So why not
read a lot on a particular topic? If the topic
is close to home, this can give you a new
window onto daily life. You'll find out things you can

(03:40):
share with friends or family or colleagues, because likely they
are experiencing some of these things too. Who wouldn't want
to hear the ghost story associated with that historic house
near downtown? That is a much more interesting story for
a Monday than the What did you do this weekend?
Nothing much. Conversation that often happens. The world is full

(04:07):
of wonders. So seek curiosity close to home and you
will find those wonders and probably have a lot of
fun at the same time. In the meantime, this is Laura.
Thanks for listening. And here's to making the most. Thanks

(04:35):
for listening to Before Breakfast. If you've got questions, ideas,
or feedback, you can reach me at laura at lauravandercam.com.
Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartMedia. For more podcasts
from iHeartMedia, please visit the iHeartRadio app Apple Podcasts, or

(04:59):
wherever you listen to your favorite shows.