nature's zodiac

With only two months left of Jupiter’s year in Gemini, it is a ripe and opportune time to contemplate the spirit of curiosity. Gemini’s hallmark strength of curiosity is so nourishing and energizing. I see it animate my son everyday, sparkling his eyes and propelling his steps. I recognize its animating effects in myself, in a great podcast that makes dish washing fun, or in a conversation that is truly refreshing.

As with so many things, I realize that I don’t know enough about them. I took another generative approach to this transit and decided I needed to learn more about this vital force of curiosity. A quick internet search led me to Ian Leslie’s fabulous book Curious: The Desire to Know and Why Your Future Depends On It.

The author distinguishes between two main types of curiosity. First there is diversive curiosity which is an attraction to novelty and new information. This kind of curiosity is fleeting and rather surface-level. It is most prominent in early childhood and is characterized by a restless desire to explore anything new, often without a specific goal or deeper intent.

And then there is epistemic curiosity. This is a deeper, sustained desire to acquire knowledge and understanding. It drives people to ask questions, explore and learn something more thoroughly.

Unlike diversive curiosity, which seeks quick answers, epistemic curiosity pushes people to keep digging, turning simple questions into ongoing quests for understanding.

He warns about the decline of this kind of curiosity in an age of quick answers and technology that ‘thinks’ for us. When everything is googlable, a vital process of deeper inquiry and reflection is bypassed.

His core message is that cultivating epistemic curiosity is crucial for personal growth and creativity and also society’s progress.

I have noticed sometimes while dreaming, that if I can remember that I am dreaming, I can take a moment to look at something really close. Some frost on a tree stump, a large leaf that turns out to be made of plastic. The closer I look, the more interesting it is. The smell of the frost, the texture of the leaf. This is probably how babies feel all the time! I love seeing them transfixed on a key chain while adults pay for the groceries. Their dream world a blaze with information and detail.

It seems that the closer one looks, whether in dream, babyhood, or adulthood, the more interesting something becomes. I thought I knew about curiosity. But a curious approach to it renewed my wonder of it, and my eagerness to cultivate it.

Einstein said that he had no special talents, and that he was only “passionately curious”.

At the end of June, Jupiter will move into the securing home vibes of Cancer. I consider this wisdom from Ian Leslie’s book to be like twigs for my nest.

Happy Nature Pondering!