Did curiosity really kill the cat?

Fear is a natural response.  Our bodies are genetically hard-wired to respond to fear.  The fear center of the brain, the amygdala, stands ready to pump powerful stress hormones into our nervous system to prepare us to fight or to run. The problem is that we feel fearful in a multitude of situations when there is no threat. "There's nothing to fear but fear itself" is often the case.

I recently read that the best antidote to fear is curiosity.  The source said that with fear we react by moving away from the thing we fear and with curiosity we move toward it. I mentioned this idea to someone whose opinion I respect and he said,  "I get that, but  there are many healthy fears. It's well and good to be curious about things, but you don't want to cuddle a rattlesnake."

I understand the dangers of totally ignoring our natural fears, but  I think that we should consider that curiosity as a way of life is much better for our mental health and well-being than fear as a way of life.

Most of us are familiar with the adage "curiosity killed the cat."  This maxim would support my friend's warning.  However, the first time these words were printed they meant something completely different. The original quote is "care killed the cat."  Care being "worry or sorrow." This phrase was written by the playwright Ben Johnson in 1598.  I want to suggest that more people have died from "worry or sorrow" than from curiosity.  I also want to suggest that all but a few of the most curious people in the world would not intentionally walk within striking distance of a poisonous snake.

In a recent case, a man attributes his life to the behavior of  his cat.  One of the stories of escape during the deadly wildfires in Gatlinburg, Tennessee involves a man and his cat. Mark Burger saw evidence of distant fires but never got any sort of alert to warn him. He decided that if it was a problem, somebody would let him know. But his normally docile, easy going cat began acting very erratically, pacing from the front window back to him. As his cat became more and more agitated, he finally got up, walked to the window and saw the flames advancing on his home. He and his cat were among those who were able to escape. When asked if he gave his cat a new toy Burger said, "He doesn't care about toys. He never gets bored because he's so curious about everything around him."

Fear and worry do temporary and sometimes permanent damage to the human body. According to WebMD and other reliable medical sources, constant worry takes a toll on our nervous systems and our bodies.  Our bodies react to worry as a physical threat. Our nervous system doesn't know the difference between an approaching wildfire  and a final exam.  When we worry our brain floods the spinal column and extremities with powerful neurotransmitters.  These hormones are designed by nature to give us the ability to avoid or deal with a dangerous situation, but the body is not designed to cope with these biochemicals being constantly pumped into and stored in the system. The secretions in the stomach alone can cause significant damage to the lining of the stomach and digestive tract.  Bleeding ulcers are a dangerous and sometimes deadly malady.  Many of them are caused by fear and worry .

Besides these physical effects, the mental effects are even more acute.  Chronic worry can lead to depression, despair and even suicide if not dealt with. Short of something that drastic, personal and social relationships are affected.  Then many people self-medicate with alcohol and drugs.  Besides expensive and career-ending DUIs these substances can lead to addiction and broken relationships.

It then is my opinion that "care" has killed many more cats than "curiosity". I'm sure it has happened, but I've never known of a cat being bitten by a poisonous snake.  To be fair, I've never known a cat that worries a lot either.  But you get my point.

I'm writing all this primarily for myself.  For a number of reasons,  I don't watch or read the news very often these days, but when I do my knee-jerk reaction is fear. I'm very concerned for myself, my family and the ones that I love.  I'm concerned for my country and for the world.  I feel threatened. I feel frightened. My body prepares me to fight or to run. But since there's no one to fight and nowhere to run, the pumps just keep pumping.  That's not healthy.  So I figure that if I find a way to replace fear with curiosity, I should be in a state of constant wonderment instead of constant fear. Making this adjustment won't be easy, but it's necessary.

The first pet I loved was Cherry. I was five years old when my mother adopted this black kitten with a white face and white paws.  I named him  Cherry because of his pink nose.  My family loved Cherry as much as I did. Cherry died thirteen years later in a very tragic manner.  He wasn't curious; he was asleep. I thought my father was going to die too. So the lesson for me is "Fine, be curious, but don't go to sleep.  And when necessary, be afraid.  You may need to fight. Keep reading the news and stay awake!"

So maybe we can agree that there's usually nothing to fear but fear itself.  But if  your cat starts acting strange, run!!

.