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There are things to be curious about. Things to wonder about, ponder over and chew on. Throughout our lives things change. What I don’t know is what is to come.
As babies, we are basic creatures. We know our tummy hurts so we cry. We know we feel a wet sticky bum so we cry. We don’t understand where the light went and we feel alone so we cry. When we cry, the nice lady holds us softly and makes us feel better. What we don’t know is why the tummy hurts, why the bum is not comfy and why the nice lady left us in the dark in the first place.
Now we head towards toddlerhood and all the opportunities for curiosity. There are places to wander to, new things to touch and so many delightful things to chew on. We know that if we wander in to the front yard, there will be neat things to see so off we go. We know that there are shiny things on low tables to touch, so off we go. We know that if we crawl about looking carefully something tempting to our little mouths might cross our paths, so off we go. What we don’t know is that it’s not safe in the front yard on our own, that the shiny things on the table will break when we push them off and that life will present us with more interesting challenges to chew on soon enough.
As those fun teenage years scream down on us, those interesting challenges we didn’t know about before start cropping up. We wonder why our parents are so stupid and how do they manage to get through the day anyway. We ponder over the cute boy at the desk next to us and what exactly will I have to do to get his attention and keep it ? We chew on the fact that every morsel of food that enters our mouth is commented on for caloric value, the number of carbs and oh my God are you really going to eat that ? What we don’t know is that our parents used to feel the exact same way about their parents, that the boy at the next desk is feeling the exact same way but about the boy at the next desk and that five years from now the girls oh my Godding about that bagel you ate will be in therapy over their food issues.
Into adult hood we trudge leaving the teenage years behind with some regret and some trepidation. We wonder what major to take in university and how that will translate in to a good paying job. We ponder the choice of a shiny new car and the ensuing debt or make responsible contributions to RRSP’s. We chew on the future like a dog worrying a juicy bone. What we don’t know is that our career path will change many times in our life, that the responsible choice will not always be the good choice and that worrying about the future will only give us grey hair prematurely.
Life goes on and there are more things for us to wonder about, ponder over and chew on. The curious thing is that we still don’t know what’s coming. We know that most people grow and change and wonder where life is heading. We know that sometimes these mysteries cause us to sit and ponder the meaning of our very existence or the purpose of the life ahead. We know that during this life we are travelling a journey which will present us with problems to chew on. What we don’t know is how to find the path for the journey of our life needs to take. We don’t know that people will drift in and out of our life as that growth and change occurs. We still search for the meaning of our existence but it is with our never ending curiosity that we find purpose in the search.
Throughout my life things have changed. I have chosen to lead a curious life, a wondrous life, a ponderous life and a life worth chewing on. What I don’t know is everything. What I don’t know has been learned by others to change the world. What I don’t know is more than some people have forgotten. I don’t know the pain of war or hunger or ongoing terror. I don’t know the feeling of falling out of an airplane and drifting safely to earth. I don’t know the feeling of giving birth although I’ve borne two healthy children. I don’t know the feeling of winning the lottery though I’d love to feel that exhilaration. I don’t know that I’ve ever not been thirsty to read and learn.
What I don’t know, I don’t need to know yet for it has not happened that I need to learn it. When I do, then I’ll know.