Kuriosities

“Curiouser and curiouser!” cried Alice (she was so much surprised, that for the moment she quite forgot how to speak good English). ~ Lewis Carroll [Charles Lutwidge Dodgson]

That strange moment of discovery and awe at the newness of things. As I read the above quote from Dodgson I can feel my eyes open wider in a reflection of Alice’s wonderment and amazement. It is a feeling that starts so small in the pit of your belly, then swells, rises up, until you cannot help but open your lungs to a new breath of air, a new idea…

It is a rare thing to be able to retain that child-like curiosity about the world – to keep one’s eyes and mind open to the possibility that new wonders exist, that they are in fact, always just around the corner. We live in such a jaded world, full of cynicism and doubt. We are very suspicious indeed. But why?

Perhaps it is that we crawl deep into the cocoons of our adult lives, and decide to sleep the winter out safely hidden. We dream of flying, but the time is never right. The weather is always too cold. We suspect that the idea of wings might altogether be untrue. We wait to see if someone else will emerge first, and secretly hope that when they take wing that they will plummet unceremoniously back down to earth- wings shamefully torn. We know then that we are smart little worms, lying low and keeping inside.

What wonders are we sacrificing on the alter of our skepticism, of our deep seated mistrust? What could happen if we said instead “curiouser and curiouser!” and allowed a small wonder to seep in? What mysteries could be revealed? What beauty? What shy new souls could we become kindred with if we allowed ourselves to really see them? Could it be that one moment of flight, with the air cupping our bodies aloft, could be worth the peril of falling?

There is a small voice inside that whispers “yes“.

And so, curiouser, I go forward. And this, a map of where I have traveled in curiosity, and new destinations delicately suspended on the edge of the horizon. They are waiting for me to find them. I will breathe them in.