Life Lesson #145 ~ Be Curious

"I like nonsense. It wakes up the brain cells." ~ Dr. Seuss

I have always been a curious soul. As a little girl I was inherently curious, inquisitive and filled with an imagination that took me on adventures like none you have ever seen. I loved to play dress up, the wilder, the more peculiar and unusual the better. I loved to sing out loud, at the top of my lungs even if I was off tune. I told bed time stories to my parents. I'd take them on my many wild, crazy and unexpected adventures right before night time prayers, ready to sail off into my dreams. I guess you could say I'm weird, odd, off beat, and very unconventional. But I like it that way. Walt Disney once said, "We keep moving forward, opening new doors and doing new things because we're curious, and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths." I think this is why I fell in love with his world and why his world became part of mine as a little girl. I guess when it comes down to it, I was quirky, a bit zany and long before it was cool to be different I believed, "If you live your life true to yourself and not the way others expect you to...you will live your life happy and regrets will be few."

Till this day I am still a very unique and rare bird if you'd like to put it in those terms. As an adult, even as a mother and a wife I'm very much a curious spirit. Not in the get into trouble kind of way or the type of curiosity that leads down paths of darkness. No I am talking about the kind of curiosity that lights our path. Honestly because of this curious nature of mine my life has become transformed, from the inside out and nothing about me is normal in the world's definition of it. I'm predictable until I don't want to be anymore. I can be completely spontaneous,  and still wait my turn on the carousel. I won't deny I'm still abandoned with desire to chase the wind, to find adventure and play on this playground we call life. I still love dressing up, going out at midnight and eating cotton candy for no other reason than turning my tongue brilliant shades of pink and blue. You see, I learned long ago, "the world of reality has it's limits but the world of imagination is boundless." I'm not a woman to be explained. I have no rhyme or reason for the way I am, I'm just myself, no apologies. I live my life passionately, full of joy, sadness, messy hair, bare feet and lots of controlled chaos. I'm a free spirit, a curious soul with an adventurous heart always ready for the ride. My hubby, he knows this about me. He loves this about me. He's never sought to change me, to clip my wings or control my chaos. He simply sits back and enjoys the ride with me. From the time we met, he's called me his goof. He loves my laughter, the way my eyes light up when I get excited and inevitably gets annoyed with my need to talk during a TV show. Yet he always, always takes the adventures with me no matter where they may lead.  From the moment our lips first met, Johnny understood this about me, "From the chaos of her soul there flowed beauty." (Louise Alexandra Erskine) And he still does.

The Scarecrow in the Marvelous Land of Oz by L. Frank Baum, couldn't be any wiser  than when he says, "I am convinced that the only people worthy of consideration in this world are the unusual ones." And so I believe with all my heart as long as we're truly being ourselves, we are among the usual. And so in a world of ordinary, cookie cutter, perfectly ideal minded people I'm blessed to have a husband who isn't perfect. I know that sounds surprising right? Maybe a bit strange, odd or curious too? Absolutely it is, and I wouldn't want it any other way. Why, well because it's what makes life interesting and extraordinary. We fit each other like a glove yes, but some days they're miss-matched and that's fine by me. We both bring something unique, unsurpassed and unrivaled to our marriage. Me with my curious nature and Johnny with his ability to steer me through my world of curiosities makes for a happily imperfect life together. I love this about him, the way he can jump in with me, being there with me, a part of my strange little world without trying to change it.  In the last year, our life has come full circle and in that we have too. I'm free to be me, he's free to be himself. Just the way we were last night under the big tent of Kurious.

So in sharing Life Lesson #145 ~ Be Curious, I want to encourage you to believe in yourself, to "Fill your life with adventures, not things. Have stories to tell not stuff to show." This is the greatest lesson my parents could have ever taught me. And now it's my turn to be the same example to my boys. After all they say blessed are the curious, for they shall have adventures. I know this to be true, for my life has been an adventure beyond my imagination. I haven't climbed mountains, or met Kings and Queens but I have known an extraordinary love. I've been saved by a grace deeper than the ocean, shown mercy beyond anything I deserve and lived a life fuller than  I could have ever hoped for. By God's grace, I've felt the kiss of curiosity across my soul and seen the dreams of my childhood become a reality. But only because I've never stopped believing anything other than what scripture tells me in Romans 12:2, "Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it." See He made me the way I am, different, curious, a free spirit with a wild imagination and ready for my next adventure. Much like Princess Diana once said, "I like to be a free spirit. Some people don't like that, but that's the way I am." And the truth is anyone, me and you, we can do great things. Doesn't matter if it's as King, a Queen, as a princess, a daughter of the King or simply the court jester.  If you are truly yourself, nonsense and all you are rare indeed.

"Do not chase another human being. Instead, chase your curiosity. Chase your development and your goals. chase your passion. Strive to work for something bigger than yourself, and instead of trying to convince someone that you fit into their world --- build your own." ~ B.A.

~Christina