Be Curious

By Addie Smith, 8th Grader

Most young children are curious about everything – why do birds fly south for the winter, what lives in the ocean, what gives plants their green color, etc. But upon becoming older (especially in the teenage years) some people stop wondering. Things are just as they are, no asking why. No belief in magic, no daydreams. But why? Why is it important to be curious and to be imaginative?

Being curious creates wonder in each and every one of us. It makes us love learning and want to know more. It makes you feel happy like you’re a child again. Imagination creates whole other worlds for us; places where dragons fly in stormy, misty gray clouds and where fairies live in our backyard. It makes us feel special and unique and one of a kind. It’s wanting to know and doing just that. It’s sharing your ideas. It’s autumn nights spent playing with frogs and learning to take care of them. It’s discovery and smiling at your success. It’s the stars and watching them from the garden. It’s sheep in a meadow. It’s wandering through pastures and picking wildflowers and playing games outdoors. It’s being spontaneous and asking why. It’s asking what a word means then teaching others. It’s keeping flowers in a teapot, dolls of porcelain, paper, and wood. It’s stories that take you to distant lands. It’s fireflies in the evening.

Being curious is being you – completely and joyfully you. And I think everyone should have this sense of wonder. Let’s all be curious and imagine the impossible. If we do, we’ll travel among the stars.