When I first read about Daniel’s project, I loved the idea of a study of what gives people these feelings of wonder and curiosity. In our everyday, sometimes mundane, lives it can be a challenge to have a sense of wonder. As we grow older, we lose the appreciation and the magic of things around us that may have filled us with curiosity and child-like amazement in the past. Therefore, the things in our lives that draw back these feelings are special to us, because to amaze us over and over can really be a feat.
I think a common sense of wonder and curiosity is found in nature. It is hard not to be floored by God’s creation every once in a while. I can specifically recall standing atop a snow covered peak in Banff National Park in Alberta, Canada. In front of me, massive peaks rose high above, so tall that snow decorated their tops year around. I could see these mountains in the distance, looming large even from far away. These peaks were an extension of the Rocky Mountain range, and their jagged tips rose from the ground and pierced the sky, sprouting out of the earth like weeds in an unkept lawn. Below the mountains was a beautiful blue-green lake, its clear water surrounded on all sides by a cascade forest, the tall evergreen trees looking meniscal compared to the mountains that dwarfed them. I could see the trail we had taken to get to this point, a long winding trail down the slope, hugging a mountainside and then dipping out of sight. It was one of the most amazing sights I’d ever seen. No picture could do it justice. “How do trees even grow at this elevation?” I remember wondering to myself. “And how does anything survive up here?”, I thought as I looked at small clumps of vegetation. My curiosity and wonder had come alive at the sight of this immaculate view.
However, when I started thinking about what really drives my curiosity and wonder, I wanted to do something a little different, something a little more personal to me.
I have a passion for traveling. I pretty much always have, and I’ve made it a life mission of mine to chase that passion, because the times I am traveling and exploring new places or encountering new people are when I feel most alive. The reason for this, I have found, is that I am continually blown away and in awe of the diverse and beautiful design that exists in both God’s creation and his people.
I adore being able to glance upon amazing views, like the one I mentioned above in Banff, and marvel in the amazing beauty that lays before my eyes. I think pretty much everyone can enjoy and appreciate a great view of nature, but I enjoy taking everything a step further and dissecting all I can see. This is where the curiosity and wonder come in. Time and time again, I am floored at all the incredibly minute and tiny details, from the smallest organisms to the towering Redwood trees. The fact that everything in creation has such a specific and beautiful design is absolutely amazing to me. From the infinite shades of reds, oranges and yellows of the autumn leaves to the shades of clear blue lakes, there is so much beauty all around that is designed with such perfection I can’t help but be astounded. I believe this is what has always driven me to enjoy the outdoors, and to further explore other places. There is always more out there to explore, more blue lakes, more jagged mountain peaks, and so much in between I can only imagine.
The second part of our beautifully diverse creation is us, humans! All the places I have traveled, I always encounter amazing people, almost always completely different from me. I grew up in an extremely diverse area, and I have always had a great appreciation for cultures other than mine. I find it so amazing that there are so many traditions, customs, and mindsets other than my own that I’ve never been exposed to. I have a huge desire to seek out people different from myself and learn things from them I could never teach myself. Everyone has a story, everyone has their own issues and struggles, and everyone gets a little down sometimes. There’s something so beautiful in that, and my curiosity always results in philosophical conversations I have inside my head. Even though we are all so different in every way, at our core we have similarities and struggles we can cling to. It’s a bit mind blowing to think that everyone is living in their own separate world all around me, and maybe I could be a small snapshot in someone’s life. I love to access that, to talk to people to get even just a little glimpse into their world.
So, you can see how my passion goes hand in hand with what drives my curiosity and wonder. Each one feeds off the other, and the more people and places I encounter, the more I am engulfed in a sense of awe and gratitude at what a beautiful world we live in, filled with so many amazing places and people, waiting to be discovered and experienced. My goal: to see as much as possible! And be as many little snapshots into people’s worlds that I can.
Nathan Dravis, Georgia
I think a common sense of wonder and curiosity is found in nature. It is hard not to be floored by God’s creation every once in a while. I can specifically recall standing atop a snow covered peak in Banff National Park in Alberta, Canada. In front of me, massive peaks rose high above, so tall that snow decorated their tops year around. I could see these mountains in the distance, looming large even from far away. These peaks were an extension of the Rocky Mountain range, and their jagged tips rose from the ground and pierced the sky, sprouting out of the earth like weeds in an unkept lawn. Below the mountains was a beautiful blue-green lake, its clear water surrounded on all sides by a cascade forest, the tall evergreen trees looking meniscal compared to the mountains that dwarfed them. I could see the trail we had taken to get to this point, a long winding trail down the slope, hugging a mountainside and then dipping out of sight. It was one of the most amazing sights I’d ever seen. No picture could do it justice. “How do trees even grow at this elevation?” I remember wondering to myself. “And how does anything survive up here?”, I thought as I looked at small clumps of vegetation. My curiosity and wonder had come alive at the sight of this immaculate view.
However, when I started thinking about what really drives my curiosity and wonder, I wanted to do something a little different, something a little more personal to me.
I have a passion for traveling. I pretty much always have, and I’ve made it a life mission of mine to chase that passion, because the times I am traveling and exploring new places or encountering new people are when I feel most alive. The reason for this, I have found, is that I am continually blown away and in awe of the diverse and beautiful design that exists in both God’s creation and his people.
I adore being able to glance upon amazing views, like the one I mentioned above in Banff, and marvel in the amazing beauty that lays before my eyes. I think pretty much everyone can enjoy and appreciate a great view of nature, but I enjoy taking everything a step further and dissecting all I can see. This is where the curiosity and wonder come in. Time and time again, I am floored at all the incredibly minute and tiny details, from the smallest organisms to the towering Redwood trees. The fact that everything in creation has such a specific and beautiful design is absolutely amazing to me. From the infinite shades of reds, oranges and yellows of the autumn leaves to the shades of clear blue lakes, there is so much beauty all around that is designed with such perfection I can’t help but be astounded. I believe this is what has always driven me to enjoy the outdoors, and to further explore other places. There is always more out there to explore, more blue lakes, more jagged mountain peaks, and so much in between I can only imagine.
The second part of our beautifully diverse creation is us, humans! All the places I have traveled, I always encounter amazing people, almost always completely different from me. I grew up in an extremely diverse area, and I have always had a great appreciation for cultures other than mine. I find it so amazing that there are so many traditions, customs, and mindsets other than my own that I’ve never been exposed to. I have a huge desire to seek out people different from myself and learn things from them I could never teach myself. Everyone has a story, everyone has their own issues and struggles, and everyone gets a little down sometimes. There’s something so beautiful in that, and my curiosity always results in philosophical conversations I have inside my head. Even though we are all so different in every way, at our core we have similarities and struggles we can cling to. It’s a bit mind blowing to think that everyone is living in their own separate world all around me, and maybe I could be a small snapshot in someone’s life. I love to access that, to talk to people to get even just a little glimpse into their world.
So, you can see how my passion goes hand in hand with what drives my curiosity and wonder. Each one feeds off the other, and the more people and places I encounter, the more I am engulfed in a sense of awe and gratitude at what a beautiful world we live in, filled with so many amazing places and people, waiting to be discovered and experienced. My goal: to see as much as possible! And be as many little snapshots into people’s worlds that I can.
Nathan Dravis, Georgia