We all get that restless, tingling sensation that pushes us to peek behind a curtain or over some wall, ask “why”, and embrace the uncomfortable beauty of not knowing which is curiosity at its best.
The most fascinating thing about being inquisitive is that such an action rarely operates in a straight line. It evolves into a tangled web of exploration, of rabbit holes, where one seemingly random question, like why do cats purr, can unexpectedly lead you to learn about things you never imagined; that curiosity can incite feelings about doing things over again, if possible.
This brings up the burning question about if there was the chance to do something all over again, and what it might be, would be to approach the traditional pursuit of knowledge with far less traditional reverence. A chance to avoid extensive research where a test, project or specific destination was involved might find any of us jumping on the “just for fun” bandwagon.
Personally, I would latch onto the freedom of allowing myself to study totally impractical subjects simply because I found them fascinating. Then, I’d acknowledge any and all “stupid” questions and lose the fear of looking foolish while asking the fundamental questions which unlock deep understandings rather than just playing along to avoid judgment.
In the end, when all is said and done, if I had a do-over, I wouldn’t change the depth of my curiosity, rather just the freedom of it, allowing it to wander further, like a drunken sailor, untethered from mundane conventionality, into the great unknown.
From the Writer’s Workshop: Write a post inspired by the word curious./Write a post in 8 sentences./If you could do it over again, what would it be? What would you do differently?
