Sunday, April 23, 2017

How to be just exactly like Yo Yo Ma! Now! It's easier than you imagine!

What's up with you? 


What are you up to, today? 

    Not sure.       Clueless.      Too tired.     

    Pet the dog.     Find food.    Fly a kite.    

    Feed the dog.   Walk the dog.  

    No dog.    So, 

What might you do today?

Curiosity may have killed the cat but it has exactly the opposite effect on us.

What if ....  you explore something you're curious about today?

What if ... 


Curiosity   ---  asking questions, 

questions like "who goes there?"   or

         what the heck is that?      why is it there?   
         who did it?       how?         why on earth? 

         why did....?      why does....?     how did....?"
         what can ....?          when does....?  

are the best antidote to boredom ever! 

Curiosity makes us human. 
It makes us interesting. 
It gets us interested. And moving.


Yo Yo Ma ignited his musical genius wit h curiosity.
His fascination with people led him - a musical prodigy - to go to Harvard and study: 
                                    anthropology!  

In an interview with Krista Tippett  *
[On Being,* podcast March 3, 2016, unedited ],

Yo Yo Ma describes his lifelong curiosity, 
his interwoven passion between music
and what it means to be human... 

the driving and consistently parallel 
tracks of his development... were music
but no less, his incsesent curiosity about
humans and culture... what is it with us...

how we express ourselves... musically,
with language, and, 
 in every way  ... 
in every aspect of life:  
why do we as individuals, and as cultures,
acquire different habits?    
for example... after he moved to NY from Paris,
at age 7 or 8, had to wonder,  
why did we invent square white bread, 
and peel-off cheese?  and
why do some have rounded baguettes? 

The master cellist has brought his earliest
preoccupation:

Who did it?   And why?  
to his deep musical sensitivity, and
to exploring the varieties of musical expression
in different cultures. 

Curiosity can send us in all directions. 

What makes you curious today? 

Any ideas about what you might do today, now?




I have been an 'anecdotal anthropologist' 
all my life.
Studying people.
Curious, about their  why's, most of all;
"How come you are this way, not another?"

Those answers are pretty dang elusive, even
if we go into deep analysis of ourselves. 

But they are interesting. And often worthwhile. 
Or, at least, interesting. Maybe mildly interesting. 
Maybe not.

But I know this: 
one thing always leads to another. 
And it gets interesting. 
And useful...
fast. 

Happy curiousing! 

           


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