Curiousity

Curiosity killed the cat, they say, and satisfaction brought it back.

I don’t believe that and neither should you.

Curiosity keeps us alive and aware, can prevent us from making bad decisions.

And can help us to make discoveries that give meaning to our lives and growth in our days.

If we just blindly accept what is presented to us uncritically, we risk being lead astray. Especially with the speed of the internet, the abundance of information available, and the tendency of people to accept biased information.  We must be aware and check multiple sources to validate what we consume intellectually and before we act on that information.

This was demonstrated in the lead-up to the Iraq War, when the rush to decision and deadly action was void of any sense of curiosity and careful review. Biases ruled, consequences ignored, and we look back now in sad review at what lead us in to a disastrous series of overseas actions that still reverberate today. And it was driven from the top, when an incredibly uncurious President was led astray by warmongering aides with an appeal to ‘be tough” no matter what. And many people followed along without a skeptical thought.  Remember the “mushroom cloud” warning ? And how it proved to be totally without merit?

But it can affect us in our everyday lives. Remember “chain letters”? That has been superceeded by the internet versions – FB, twitter, and other social media can feed rumor trails and viral internet can be as dangerous and medical viruses.

But curiosity and an open mind aren’t just for warding off harmful influences.

It is also vital to growth. We learn through being curious and having a thirst for discovering new things. I enjoy seeing and hearing new sights and sounds of nature. Today was one example. I often hear woodpeckers high in the trees, but rarely see them. But today I had both and I got the video to share. I would neither have seen nor heard this bird if my ears and eyes were not open.

Be sure to take some time to pay attention to the beauty all around you. You never know what you might encounter.

One world

Once we work through Maslow's hierarchy of needs (see last week's post) and meet those essential needs for ourselves, there is another set of essentials. That is realizing that there are others who have those same needs, and we have the responsibility to help them to meet their needs, no matter who they are or where they are from. For you see, as the English poet John Donne so elegantly put it "no man is an island entire of himself, we are all part of the whole...each man's death diminishes me....send forth not for who the bell tolls, it tolls for thee"

We need to realize that we are all part of a neighborhood, a city, a state, a country, and the world. We all share this planet, with its plants and animals, its environment, its people. We are part of  global community. And as we learned in kindergarten we are supposed to share it. The effects of war, climate changes, disease, and economic uncertainty ultimately know no boundaries. As we have seen with the corona virus it started in one country, but has spread around the world. The Great Depression of our parents and grandparents was global. The great volcanic eruptions, like Krakatoa in the 1800's and Mt Saint Helens in 1980 sent ash around the world.

 The conflagration of war in the 20th century were called World Wars because they were global, affected the whole planet, and reshaped the world as we know it, changing boundaries,, economies, and alliances. Even the smaller wars of later years have caused massive refugee movements, economic disaster, and social upheaval.

So how does this affect you? What can you do? First if you see someone who is in need, reach out to help however you can. Organize with others to provide help. Listen to the cries for help and at least acknowledge that we have work to do. Sometimes it is just a listening ear that people need. Don't isolate - we may need to be physically distant, but let's not wall off our hearts.

Remember, for us to grow and prosper it is essential that we acknowledge that we are one world.
the world doesn't revolve around us, and we can't wall it off from us, it includes us.

Maslow's Heirarchy

 Abraham Maslow was an American psychologist of the 20th century who focused on humanistic psychology - what distinguishes humans from animals, and what how meeting needs contributes to human motivation. He developed a hierarchy of needs - the identification of human needs and that the most basic needs must be met for people to attain high goals and needs. He identified 5 levels -physiological, safety,, love, esteem, and self-actualization.

Physiological needs are things like food, water, shelter,, health. These are basic survival needs. Unless and until those are met your mind will focus on them and not be able to seek to fulfill other needs. Just like a drowning person will often unconsciously drag a potential rescuer under is their need to push their head above water, so a person who is starving won't listen to appeals of reason no matter how persuasive.

Once those basic needs are met safety and security needs are in focus. This involves not only physically safety - shelter, job security, and a safe environment - but also emotional and mental safety. Freedom from abuse and financial security. Safety at home, and freedom from fear out in public. And personal health , free from fear of disease and accidents

The third level of needs is social belonging. This includes friendships, intimacy, and family. Everybody needs to have connections and feeling like they are part of something bigger than just themselves. And acceptance from others.

The fouth level of needs is self- esteem and self- respect. It involves both internal valuing of ourselves and the need for recognition and respect from others. Someone who does not value themselves will have a harder time valuing others. Being confident in ourselves makes it easier to have confidence to participate with others. And it is easier to be confidence in ourselves if we are getting recognition and encouragement from others.

The final level is called self-actualization. The realization of one's full potential. To go beyond the basic needs and aim to develop all your strengths and desires. To make a mark and society, and to be free to pursue excellence.

It is not always a straight line and sometimes  needs in one level may outweigh the needs in another.
But the basic idea is that often people may feel or be frustrated in seeking to develop skills or reach goals because they are not having basic needs met. People may wonder why their friends or coworkers are not listening to reason or thinking ahead about consequences of actions, without realizing that they are not ready to hear due to more basic needs unmet.

It is important for us to think about this for ourselves and others. If we feel that we are not progressing and meeting goals, examine ourselves to see if we have unmet needs. And we need to help others meet their basic needs before we try to persuade them to accept our point of view, no matter how important it seems to  us.

In out society today, with all the varying and oftentimes intense and stressful situations, think about fear. Fear is often a sure sign of unmet needs. We can't always meet needs, but at least we can understand the often unseen motivation. It is essential

                                                                

what is essential?

What is essential? That has been a big debate during this corona virus time. What businesses and activities are essential and what are not. For those in leadership having responsibility of making policy decisions on the city, state, and federal levels. For those giving feedback on those decisions.
Making decisions about how we "open back up" and recover a more normal operation of society involves public safety and safe economic activity upon which we all depend.  We cannot isolate forever - for many reasons.

And while the policy makers, health care experts,  and economic planners have their roles to play we all have the responsibility too. From giving feedback on the subject to planners, as necessary public input, to our own planning in the upcoming interaction in society. And it provides us an opportunity to examine our own situations, priorities, and plans for what is essential to us. What can we live with, what we can live without, and why? What are our priorities.

How do we go about determining what is essential and what is not? I think we need to drill down to the basics. And I want to take some time and share some thoughts and resources to help us all make those decisions. In college (or perhaps in high school) I learned about Abraham Maslow, an American pschologist, who in 1943 developed a theory proposing a hierarchy of needs. It explained 5 different levels of human needs and how until we have the most basic needs met we can't attempt to pursue the higher levels. In practical terms if we are lacking basic necessities - water, food, shelter - we are operating on a purely survival level, and the needs of anyone else are out of our caring capability.

In my next post I want to explore that and share how that works. For now please google Maslow and read about his hierarchy. Knowing the pathway of needs will help us all determine what is essential and what is not.  The first step is safety - please be safe everyone.

Perspective

Is the glass half empty or is it half full? It depends on your perspective.
Is rain dreary, or invigorating, or just there? It also depends on your perspective.
Are you trapped at  home during the "shelter in place" restrictions, or are you "safe" at home
protecting yourself and others from illness? in depends on your perspective.

It also depends on your personality and your principles. If you are an extrovert you are probably going crazy not being able to go to all the places you normally want to go. Why? Because you draw your energy from people and parties, and this current situation leaves you frustrated and physically drained. If you are an introvert like me you are probably enjoying the peace and quiet and less of the hustle and bustle, since you recharge in silence and calm.

It also depends on your principles and beliefs. If you tend to be skeptical of "official" sources and rely on "word of mouth" sources you might think that the danger is not as bad as people think. And if you think it is over-hyped you may struggle against the restrictions. If you believe that the danger is real and trust experts you be more likely to "wait it out" and give the restrictions the benefit of the doubt.

Many people can view the exact set of circumstances and situations and come to very different conclusions. At the same time we all need to be careful in our actions. Taking care of ourselves and others is important no matter our conclusions. Helping struggling and hurting people, and allaying fear is never wrong.  And we must always remember that any of us can be wrong, and be prepared to admit it.

For me, I tend to emphasize exercising an abundance of caution, and being an introvert, am content to wait it out. There are plenty of things I can do from the comfort of my home.
I am a rain lover, so I walk in the rain, get invigorated by it, and love the windy, rainy, coolness of the local rain climate. I spent enough time in the blazing desert heat of Phoenix  I will never get waterlogged, no matter how long it rains.

And as for the water glass question I take the middle ground. Forget debating the existential notions and just drink the water.

What's your plan?

What's your plan? This is the question of the day. For Mayors and Governors, wanting to open up their cities and states to more economic activity. For businesses large and small wanting to avoid further loss of income and business. It is the question for sports and recreation to answer for healthy activity.  It is also a question for all of us.

All of us will have to decide when and how, and how much we venture out of our houses, into the neighborhoods and businesses around us. We need to decide what is important for us, what we need to do again, how much risk is acceptable, and what we really want to do.

And beyond that, we need to spend some of this quarantine time thinking of where we want to be beyond the challenge of coming out of quarantine.We need to ponder what this time has taught us about what really is important and spend more of our time doing those things, pursuing those goals instead of just working to get by.

When freed from the visible restrictions think about the invisible restrictions that hold us back.
The expectations of others, the doubts, the messages of youth about what we should or shouldn't do.
And plan to tackle those barriers. Just like we need a plan to come back out of isolation we need a plan to not just get back to what was before, but to go beyond that to a better, more fulfilled us.

Don't wait around for others to plan, make sure you have a plan to go out and beyond. So....what's your plan?

The Beauty around that will help us get through

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, so the saying goes. But the problem is we tend not to look.
And in the days of the corona, and the constant reminders on the news of the bad - through the constant drumbeat of stat after deadly stat - we need reminders of the ever- present beauty all around.
I was reminded of this while trimming down my cache of photos, in prep for a new laptop.

One of my favorite flowers is foxglove, with its self -seeding habit and its tall rows of painted flowers.
The O poppy starts out like a creature from outer space, but then bursts out with brilliant color 
And the green growth comes in different variations



often with other colors mixed in. Please take time today to look around you and see the beauty that is there. Take a literal "breather" from the chaos. It will do you a lot of good and help us get through.