Curious About …
Why would I know about taxidermy?
This was my son’s reply when I asked him if he had heard the story of Leo, the (taxidermied) lion of Gripsholm.
Ah, curiosity is a fascinating thing.
I don’t know much about taxidermy either, nor do I have a need to know much. I am, however, interested in interesting stories and when I listened to someone sharing some of history’s failed taxidermy efforts, it piqued my curiosity to take a look. Who is this Leo of Gripsholm they speak of? What is wrong with the taxidermied echidna displayed in the London museum?
One look at Leo is enough to make you laugh aloud. What? How? Huh?
The conversation with my son meandered to life in 18th century Sweden and beyond, and an unexpected insight into a text he is studying at school.
Laughs were shared. Dots were joined.
Such is the joy and value in curiosity.
Which makes me curious as to how often we might close down those possibilities when we assert: I don’t need to know/discuss/think about [fill in the blank].
I wonder, where could a little curiosity lead you today?