My Introspective Mind Yields Interesting Curiosities
“Awaken the curiosity within you.” — ATGW
I’m a very introspective person and often find myself digging deep into the questions I have about the things I observe around me. Sometimes they aren’t questions but rather thoughts that sprout up into my consciousness.
You could say I’m curious. I find fascination in the little things and take pride in observing things that not many people notice.
If I really had a moment I could look at the roof of a house and examine how the bricks are laid perfectly symmetrical next to one another. I might go into wondering what the process was like to put them on the roof and what the people doing that were like. What were the people going through in their lives? Who designed the structure? Were there ever issues with it? Did anyone get hurt? How long have they been there?
Some of these questions may seem useless. Who needs to know all these random things that have nothing to do with them? Why does it matter?
To be honest, I have no idea why they matter or the fact that they may be useless. I understand that I’ll never know most of the answers but I don’t need to know them all. I think it would be interesting to know the answers but it’s not necessary. I’m never stuck on a question and feel the absolute need to figure it out. I just have fun thinking up all these interesting thoughts.
Now it’s not just the random architecture that drives my curiosity but it’s also the people behind it.
I could go on forever about the way my curiosity flows when I pass by random people in everyday life but most of that might not make sense to you.
I might see a stranger for 10 seconds out of an entire day but for the next 5 minutes, I wonder what is going through their head, if they are struggling at all, and what their story is.
It’s quite an interesting thought process that entertains me pretty well. It’s the fact that every single person is living a completely different life than you that you may know absolutely nothing about. The life you live on the outside may be very similar to someone you grew up with or live with but the internalized experience is usually quite different.
That internal experience is what really makes us who we are and shapes our experiences and behaviors. That internal world, the true and deepest parts of a person is what I wish I could uncover. Just so I can get a better understanding and broaden my knowledge of the variety of lives that walk the earth.
In addition to the small things and people, I also often get fascinated by nature such as the ocean and the night sky.
I love to sink my feet in the sand and feel the cold wave of water glide over them while I look out into the seemingly endless ocean.
In those moments I wonder what life is like under the surface of the shiny soft blue water. I know there is so much information on marine life, which I do find very fascinating, but it’s deeper than that. It’s the experience of it all. It’s a world that is unique and different from our own, not just an underwater lesson to be learned. Of course, that is my opinion, the opinion that the introspective part of me wants to dive into.
I look at the night sky in the same way. For me, looking up at the night sky almost takes my breath away (this happens with the ocean too). Not just because it’s visually beautiful but because it proves that our world is so much bigger than the space we personally take up.
The world is big and complex with many worlds within our own. There are many things that people just look at or interact with that just seemingly exist for them. And that’s not a problem at all, I do that too. But at the same time, everything has a story. It’s likely that we will never know anything about many of those stories on our own. However, that doesn’t mean they don’t exist.
You may know nothing about the person that laid those bricks on your neighbor's roof and that’s okay.
It’s more of a practice of observation and mindfulness. When I get in this headspace I become mindful of the stories behind everything. There is much more than what we see on the surface. Tiny mundane objects can yield curiosity as much as the life of the man who takes a walk past your house every morning.
It’s a great big world out there with billions of different stories we know nothing about.
It’s okay to get curious and look deeper even if it leads to nothing productive. In fact, I encourage it. Observe and be mindful of the world around you. You may be surprised at the observations and curiosities you uncover about your own mind.
