When We Wonder

There was a time when the world lived in the dark, not knowing why the sun rose and set and the sky became dark in the middle of the day. And not too long ago, we as a people learned that to find answers we only need search the correct book to find the solution to our query. But now answers to our questions are easily found at the touch of a finger on our phones or other computer devices. It’s wonderful for people like me full of curiosity.

Not everyone is interested in why roofing nails are different than finishing nails, why tall fescue grass grows better in the south than another, or why tree branches lift upward in the south and downward in the north. But for me, I love looking up the answers to the things I wonder about. Sometimes I think it makes me wonder even more.

Often times I think about why something is built the way it is, or why things happen the way they do. Almost always I can look up the question and there is at least one answer to my query. Which makes me smile knowing someone else in this vast world of ours was wondering the same thing as I. In a strange way, it makes me feel connected to someone else.

But I must admit there are times I wonder and the answers can’t be found on the internet or in a book. Sometimes they can’t even be answered by a parent or scholar. I know others wonder the same things I do and it makes me truly think. For instance, what is the man’s story sitting on a bucket next to a bus stop, his hair tossed by the wind and his wrinkled face worn down from the sun above? What makes a person throw their garbage out of a car window or another person slap their child across the face? Why is a dog so loyal and what is she thinking when she stares lovingly up at me? What makes me question everything while others do not?

When we wonder, much more happens than just the questions our mind produces. Somehow we connect with the world, with people and objects around us that fill our lives and give it purpose. To wonder, whether a lot or a little, encourages us to step forward and speak to others, to find answers, to know the whole story. To wonder inspires us to help conquer worldly problems together, to give empathy to those less fortunate, and fill our world with new innovations and creations. To wonder is wonderful, and worth every second we spend questioning and learning about the world around us. The act of wondering is embedded deep within me, and I’m glad that it makes me more in tune with a little thing we call … life.