Lately, I’ve been collecting a list of things that I want to learn more about.
These aren’t topics that I plan to master, but just areas that I have curiosity about and want to learn a little more. It may be that reading a book could satisfy the curiosity, or I’ll decide that I want to pursue a deeper exploration once I scratch the surface.
Having a curiosities list helps me to choose the non-fiction books I want to read, narrow the podcasts that I listen to, and also to seek out certain networking connections where I can talk to others about topics of interest.
This kind of list is also fun to cultivate when it’s focused on things outside of work (where I’m often researching a range of different professional development-related topics).
Here are some of the things that are currently on my curiosities list:
Dinosaurs. I stumbled across a new book called The Rise and Fall of Dinosaurs by Steve Brusatte and it immediately peaked my interest. I loved the Jurassic Park books and movies (although I know they aren’t all that accurate…) and I thought it would be fun to explore this topic a little more by checking out Brusatte’s book from my local library.
Autism. I have a couple of coaching clients that have autism diagnoses and a couple of my family members also identify as autistic. I feel like most of what I know about autism comes from a very surface-level awareness of the topic, so I’ve collected some books on this as well. I’m especially interested in the ways that autism shows up in adults and women, which are two sub-genres that are more emergent in this area.
Homesteading, rural living, and small town life. I’m pretty sure that I’m never going to homestead myself, but what a fascinating topic to read and listen to other people talking about! I’m currently watching a YouTube channel of a couple creating their homestead, and I also recently checked out this book about a family that decides to move to a small town. I’ve always been intrigued by the concepts of minimalism, tiny homes, and small living and they intersect a lot in these topic areas.
Poetry. Over the winter break, I picked up a bunch of poetry collections that are focused on the seasons (see this book for an example) and on daily poems (like this collection). I find that poems are a great way to calm down at the end of the day since they don’t require a lot of extended focus and can be such a pleasant way to spend even a few minutes of time. I’m looking forward to dipping in and out of these collections.
What are some things on your curiosities list at the moment?
