Thought for Today (And a little commentary)

Seize the moment of excited curiosity on any subject to solve your doubts; for if you let it pass, the desire may never return, and you may remain in ignorance.

William Wirt (1772 - 1834)

 

There are few statements I could agree with more. I have been referred to as scatterbrained, eclectic, or even a little geeky based on my passion for researching and experimenting with things. As a child I had an innate curiosity about things. Books that I remember fondly from being a child were a Disney series with Donald Duck and the other characters called “How it works… In the home, In the city, On the farm.” I loved them. I could look inside something and see how it worked. Later I graduated to Time-Life How-To books; yeah, I was hitting the hard stuff. I learned a little bit about a lot of things like botany, plumbing, electricity and mechanics. It hasn’t stopped either. Generally speaking I get some question in my head at least once a day that I need to answer. What are the actual names of the components of a bow? What is Hjorthornssalt and why does it make my Moms oatmeal cookies so good? What the heck makes yogurt into “Greek” yogurt? These are a few questions that I needed to know the answer to this week.

As I “grew up” I lost my curiosity. I knew what I needed to get along in the world and life had caught up with me. Family matters, work and day to day life gave me an excuse to stop examining the world around me. It’s amazing to me how easy it is to let that happen. Luckily it’s also amazing to me how easy it is for us to make a profound change in out thinking and our outlook. We all have our curiosities; it’s something that’s hardwired into us as humans. “Why” is one of our first words as children. Don’t let yourself lose that curiosity. Sometimes it’s not convenient to stop and investigate something right away, I understand that, so I keep a small notebook at my office, and one in my nightstand for those questions that come up, and for the ideas that hit me all of a sudden. That way I can look back at them later and take as much time as they require.

 

We are so lucky to live in a time when the information that we want is only as far away and as inaccessible as we make it. We have Google, Wikipedia, Instructables and so many more resources online. We have Public libraries that we can sometimes get up to 12 or 13 books at a time from. (Don’t ask how I know that?) And we have, through our blogs and the web in general, the ability to share and collaborate on a scale not before seen in human memory. I encourage you to embrace your inner “Why”. Your mind will thank you. Your children will thank you, and life will be a little more interesting.

 

Carpe Momentum!

P~