Curating the Curious
Welcome to Curating the Curious, the podcast that celebrates staying curious in life and never settling into a box.
This show is for the creators, the seekers, the explorers, the truth tellers….and the forever students of life.
No matter what age or stage you’re currently at, this is not as good as it gets and it is never too late to begin.
Join me as we explore all of the questions that come with the idea of curiosity. A place where the possibilities are endless and you can always start again.
We expand our lives through curiosity. One of my greatest passions is finding ways to encourage and inspire others to keep pushing, sharing, living, and making things for the world to see.
Curating the Curious
Day 4- Just Call Me "Fists of Justice"!
Welcome to DAY FOUR of our new 30-day project where we make something with our hands every day to improve mental health during difficult times. We all realize that creativity heals...it's time to put that knowledge into action.
I'm going to publish an episode to follow along with several days of each week (I'll take breaks on Fridays and weekends in order to give you time to catch up as needed). These episodes will exist here, marked with the days numbered, in order for you to follow along at any speed that you like. Miss a day? Doesn't matter. Just pick up right where you left off and keep making things. These episodes will give us all some accountability, but if you need more, pair up with a partner. It really does help!
Join our creative community by making something today, whether it's for five minutes or several hours—your brain will thank you. Let's do this thing together and turn all of this sh*t into something beautiful!
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between stimulus and response. There is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom. Victor E Frankel.
Speaker 1:I chose this quote today because I had to remove myself from social media once again. This is not my first time and it probably won't be my last, but this quote in total is something that has been a recurring lesson in my life. I would say, if this podcast is where I come to speak after I have taken that space in between the stimulus and response in order to speak calmly on a topic, then my Instagram stories are where I scream from the rooftops about all of the injustice taking place in the world and all the things that I'm angry about, and you need to look at this and watch this video. It is not helpful. I realize that, and I know that I do try to post only valuable information. That I know is true and I try not to finger point when I do it, but regardless, it's not a healthy behavior and I had to put a stop to it several days ago and I gave myself a few days in between recording these just to calm myself back down and get to a place to where I should be recording episodes. So that's where I'm at right now.
Speaker 1:There's another quote, and that is when you become reactive, get curious. There is a wound that is waiting to be healed. This is also another recurring lesson that I've been paying very close attention to as of late. I've worked for years on my reactivity, trying to be less reactive and taking that time in between and taking that time in between. However, I'm human and I do get stirred up by things. If I'm being honest, human rights will take me to the edges of my sanity when I see human rights being taken away from people day by day. So this is a wound that is waiting to be healed. I've been very reactive. I've also just been engaging in too much social media too many videos of people being kidnapped off of the streets by men in masks and while their families are screaming and watching children in Gaza, and just too much. It's not healthy. No human being is made to take in that much information, and I know that. So this episode is probably more appropriate for anyone who relates with me and has a strong sense of justice sensitivity and that is a real term.
Speaker 1:The actual definition of justice sensitivity refers to the tendency to perceive and react negatively to any form of perceived injustice, both experienced personally and observed in others. This sensitivity can sometimes manifest as anger, resentment or a strong desire to right perceived wrongs. Nailed it Anyone who knows me will tell you I have a very, very strong personality trait. I guess you would call it of justice sensitivity. I once heard Melissa McCarthy I think it was on Armchair say that her friends call her Fists of Justice because she's like that, and I was like that's my new nickname Fists of Justice, that's me. So it's a thing.
Speaker 1:It's commonly linked with people who have been diagnosed with ADHD and or autism and I see that. I see that connection for sure. But I also see a giant connection between justice sensitivity and being a trauma survivor, mainly a trauma survivor with unhealed trauma, mainly a trauma survivor with unhealed trauma, ptsd that's still lurking in the background. You know different symptoms. You name it and actually, according to Gabor Mate, adhd is a stress response and it's not a condition that you're born with. It's your body's response to trauma. People vary on their opinions on that, but I feel pretty strongly that there's something to that, at least for me personally. But I'm not a licensed therapist. I just wanted to bring that up.
Speaker 1:In case there's anybody out there who is repeatedly exposing themselves to news or videos or you know things that are really disrupting your mental health, I'm going to invite you to join me in staying away from social media for a good while. Right now I'm in the beginning stages and I've been off of social media for several days, but already I feel like a different person and, I have to be honest, it was affecting me greatly, greatly, and I know it's happening to so many people out there. We will get to the project part of this, I promise, but I just thought this was very important to cover right now. So, for anyone who is in this boat, like me, and is kind of being re-traumatized over and over again by watching videos, news, you know, hearing about all of the atrocities going on in the world, I recommend you to look into Dr Judith Lewis Herman. She wrote a book called Trauma and Recovery back in 1992, which I haven't read. I was listening to her talk on a podcast. It was about her newest book, which was released in 2023, and it's called Truth and Repair.
Speaker 1:Now, this book covers what I've been getting at this whole time. Truth and Repair is part manifesto and part, exploration of what justice truly means for survivors of trauma and abuse. And after just one hour of reading Truth and Repair. And after just one hour of reading Truth and Repair, everything seemed to finally come together for me Like a light bulb went off in my brain. Whether you read this book or not, if you are taking in things every day and it is hurting your mental health, you have to stop. That's it. But being the social justice warrior that I am, I'm not going to just turn a blind eye to all of this. I'm still going to stay on top of things Once I get settled. I'm starting to feel like my nervous system is settling down and I can take things in.
Speaker 1:Once you get to that point, I recommend reading news only. So here are my top three sources of news that I can highly recommend, who also deliver it without all of the emotion that can get you stirred up. Number one is Heather Cox Richardson. She has a newsletter that I follow and a podcast. It is called Letters from an American by Heather Cox Richardson. She is one of the most knowledgeable people I have ever listened to. It blows my mind. But she delivers news in a very calm way and she doesn't go spouting off her opinions or get you worked up. It's very factual, it's very calm and informative. Another is the newsletter from Sharon McMahon called the Preamble. She has a sub stack that I follow and I get the email sent to me through that. And the third is Jessica Yellen, or Yellen News, not Noise. This way you can be away from social media and still be informed. You have no excuse to go back unless you're enjoying it, which hopefully I can return to that again someday.
Speaker 1:So now for today's project. Let's get to that. This fits in the same little basket as this entire talk. Today I'm making protest signs and I'm very excited about it. These remember these are not being recorded in real time, so I think by the time this airs, that protest will have already taken place, and it's done by the same people who did the no Kings protest. It's supposed to be big and it's peaceful and it's a great way to join in with your community and meet with other people who care about democracy and freedom and human rights, and I'm really excited about it. So I've got all my pens and my boards and that's what I'm doing today. Between doing that and recording this, I think it's going to be a pretty cathartic day and, to tell you the truth, I'm really looking forward to who I might run into or meet or what have you.
Speaker 1:I would like to bring my daughter to her first peaceful protest. I haven't asked her yet if she wants to go, so we'll see, but I'll update you and just get out there. Do something with your hands, make something, clean something, write something, dance something. Write something, dance something, cook whatever comes to mind. And if the news or social media or both are bringing you down and putting you in a headspace to where you cannot think, like I was several days ago, leave it, put it down, walk away, start reading the news from credible, calm news sources. Go in with a calm, nervous system. Whatever it takes to get there. Get there first and then stay updated, because this is no time to ignore what is going on out there. This is no time to pretend everything's great. We have to keep our eyes on democracy, but we also have to do it with a calm, nervous system. If you like this episode, please share it. I'm not on social media right now, so that'll help me get the word out and, in the meantime, stay curious.
