
It’s July, when both fireworks and the Blue Angels light up our skies. Yay, summer! Maybe it’s a good time to think about how to light up our lives as well.
I’ve been thinking lately about longevity (#goals) and how to keep a long life interesting. According to the article “Are you curious? It might help you stay sharp as you age” from the UCLA newsroom website, new research shows that overall curiosity can grow “well into old age.” One of the researchers noted that, “…as we get older, we don’t want to stop learning, we’re just more selective about what we want to learn.”
And that brings me to the question: What do I want to learn? I want to travel more and learn more about the history and culture of the world. I want to soak up more art (painting, sculpture, music, theatre — I love it all).
But I also want to learn how to propagate my favorite plants from cuttings, how to bake sourdough bread and how to do my own repair/building projects around the house. In fact, the list of what I want to know grows daily (and always has), much like my lists of books to read and movies to watch.
So much to learn, so little time! Just thinking about what I long to know fires up my synapses. For me, it’s not that there’s a dearth of ideas to keep me curious; it’s that there are so many I can’t seem to focus on one. Maybe what I need is a Masterclass on focus and productivity.
This month, though, I’m looking forward to almost nonstop company, cookouts, boat rides and fun, so I don’t imagine I’ll be worrying about productivity or learning much new.
Annual July traditions fire me up, and I hope they spark your joy as well. Light it up, Bellas!
— Lisa Player