What’s up everybody?
Welcome to the first edition of…
The Rabbit Hole!
Because I love it.
It feels the most…me?…of anything I’ve created before.
It fits and feels natural.
Because it’s about staying open and staying curious. Let me explain.
This is how Dictionary.com defines “down the rabbit hole”:
Used especially in the phrase going down the rabbit hole or falling down the rabbit hole, a rabbit hole is a metaphor for something that transports someone into a wonderfully (or troublingly) surreal state or situation. On the internet, a rabbit hole frequently refers to an extremely engrossing and time-consuming topic.
Going down the rabbit hole represents openness and curiosity. It represents passion and presence. Following your intuition and allowing yourself to be guided. It is a meandering road-trip on which there is no destination and no certain endpoint except for the journey itself.
Going “down the rabbit hole” is a way of life.
Curiosity is also a way out of fear. Think about it this way:
Imagine curiosity and fear as a movement or a character. What might they do? How might they feel?
I see it this way:
Curiosity leans in and moves towards something. Fear leans out and moves away from something. Curiosity brings things to the surface. Fear pushes them down. Curiosity seeks out experience and a change of perspective and point-of-view. Fear runs from them.
Curiosity has been great medicine for me. Curiosity asks, “what can we learn from this?” or it might say, “that’s funny, I didn’t expect that to happen, what might I do differently next time?” whereas fear might say, “that’s not good, I didn’t want THAT to happen. Probably shouldn’t try that again.” Curiosity supports me in processing and moving through challenging experiences.
It allows me to stay open, stay curious, and pursue my passions in a way that hopefully makes a contribution to others.
I hope this is a place for us to discover new and exciting things - about ourselves, about our world, about potential and possibility, about what we are capable of (collectively and individually), and about what might be possible if we dare to dream (or at least allow ourselves to get lost for a little while).
So, welcome to The Rabbit Hole.
In this week’s rabbit hole:
A Book I’m Currently Reading
A short discussion between Russell Brand & Ricky Gervais on god and atheism
A letter from Neil Gaiman to Douglas Adams
A show I’m watching
Book I’m Currently Reading:
Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us by Daniel Pink (link here)
Biggest Idea So Far: Most of what we think we know about motivation is wrong. The “carrots and sticks” we use to motivate us can have the opposite of the intended effect. They give us less of what we want and more of what we don’t want.
Discussion between Russell Brand & Ricky Gervais on god and atheism:
These two are on distinctly different sides of this argument. That’s what I love most about this conversation: the thoughtfulness and consideration. Each of them makes their points without demeaning the other. They disagree without insult and move towards a common understanding.
This Letter from Neil Gaiman to Douglas Adams:
Neil Gaiman is one of the most prolific living writers. His books have been converted to film and television and he’s won more than a handful of awards for his writing. This is a letter he wrote to Douglas Adams, most notable for the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series. It was published in Gaiman’s book Don’t Panic on Adams and the Hitchhiker series.
The Show I’m Watching:
HBO’s Watchmen.
The show begins in a theatre during the 1921 Tulsa Race Riots in the Greenwood District in Tulsa, Oklahoma. At the time, Greenwood, known as “Black Wall Street,” was one of the wealthiest black neighborhoods in the country. The incident sets the backdrop for the next nine episodes. Though the show closely follows the narrative of several characters, we get hints at the main protagonist: trauma. Each of the characters is spurred on in some way by their own personal or generational trauma.
In the end, we are sitting in the same theatre the season began in. We’ve experienced the threat of total nuclear annihilation (twice), multidimensional squids (the show gets weird), geniuses locked in planetary prisons, teleportation, President Robert Redford (which feels almost too real), and a good ole’ fashioned story of a god falling in love with a mortal. Each of these moments, in some way, feels driven by pain and trauma. The characters are complicated and at times troublingly human. That’s why this line about masks (a significant symbol throughout the season) will stick with me:
“You can’t heal under a mask. Wounds need air.”
If you can stomach or look past somewhat gratuitous violence, you should watch it. It’s great and has an incredible cast and soundtrack.
(As an aside, Oklahoma added the 1921 race riots to the state’s curriculum this year, in 2020…almost 100 years later).
That’s it for this week’s rabbit hole.
I hope you find something that ignites your curiosity.
Thank you for being here.
Until next week.
Stay open, stay curious,
KB
Great ideas Kyle. I love learning about the things you find in the rabbithole!