I've been thinking about curiosity a lot recently and this phrase from childhood popped into my head:

Curiosity killed the cat. Satisfaction brought him back.

I don't know the origins of the phrase but I remember it being shared with me a lot as a kid. Maybe because I was always asking why. 🤷🏼‍♀️ And yes, I could have looked up the origin before sharing this email with you but I'm having more fun coming up with my own theories:

• To get kids to stop asking why all the time?
• A campaign to keep cats indoors so they'd stop bringing in birds and mice?
• A way to keep kids from finding the Christmas presents hidden around the house (or was that just me?)

Anyway…back to what this has to do with you, me and a bit of rest...

I've been thinking about curiosity as it relates to our habits; especially when we're trying to start something new. So often, when things don't go as planned, we go straight to berating ourselves instead of getting curious about what didn't work, why it didn't work, and what we might try differently next time. Or even getting curious about whether this is the right change to make in the first place.

And that second part of the phrase? Satisfaction brought him back. That's the piece we skip when we're too busy being hard on ourselves. Curiosity is what lets you actually learn something...about why the habit didn't stick, about whether it even fits your life, about what you actually want. That's where the satisfaction lives.

It's also a gentler way to begin. Instead of doing everything, everywhere, all at once...why not get curious first? About what your real goal is. About what a small, sustainable shift might look like. About what's actually getting in the way.

I see this a lot when it comes to rest.

Rest is one of those things we think we should be better at and then feel guilty when we're not. We add it to the to-do list, fail to "do it right," (whatever that means) and then wonder what's wrong with us.

But what if instead of pushing harder, you just got curious?

• What does rest actually mean to me?
• When do I feel like I got rest, even for a moment?
• What gets in the way of me taking time to rest, unplug, slow down?

Those questions don't have a wrong answer. They just open a door.

That's exactly what we're exploring in the Curiosity Circle: Rest in Your Everyday Life.

It's a six-week small group experience where we slow down together, get curious about what rest could look like in your real life and then experiment with it. Maybe that looks like a better relationship with your phone. Maybe it's carving out small moments of rest during the workday. It's about getting curious about what it looks like in your life. Not mine.

We start on April 14 and meet weekly for 45 minutes for six weeks. If you've been thinking about making more time for you to unplug and rest, now's the time to get curious.

Before you go, let's be clear. Curiosity didn't kill the cat. The cat was fine and you will be too. 😊

And hey, feel free to send me your wildest guesses on how/why the phrase "Curiosity killed the cat" got its start.

Sending love and curious calming vibes, Chris

PS: Live in the Baltimore area? Why not join me in April for one of my in-person events.