Look for curiosity close to home

0:03Speaker 1: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 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 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, 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.

1:26Speaker 1:Perhaps you are curious about notable alumni of your college 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 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 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 iNaturalist app helps you identify wildlife and keep track of what you've seen and heard. The internet can also be

2:44Speaker 1: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 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 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 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?

4:00Speaker 1:Nothing much. Conversation that often happens. The world is full 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 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 wherever you listen to your favorite shows.