Questions about the world. Questions about life. Why do we as people try so hard in life if in the end, it won’t matter? Why do we care so much about how smart we are or how we look on the outside if we’re just going to die in the end? All these questions live in my mind as I grow older. I would remember different times in my life where I was just so talkative. Why does this happen? How come this happens? It ‘s notable that I asked these questions when I was younger because those questions slowly stopped by the time I got older. One incident that I remember vividly was when me and my cousins watched Transformers. My older cousin pulled up this movie when my younger cousin kept asking questions. “What’s going on?” “Why is that happening?” “When are they going to fight?” My older cousin just ignored him until he got fed up and told him to stop asking questions. That day my older cousin asked if we enjoyed the movie, but not surprisingly, my younger cousin couldn’t answer him because he didn’t understand the movie. Although this memory isn’t serious and they probably don’t remember this, it shows how curiosity is something that is always ignored and concealed and its ignorance prevents us from fully grasping the way we understand.

From an early age, we were overcame with multiple questions. Despite some of them not being the most serious, asking questions was a way to learn about the world around us and shape us into who we are today. Questioning seems to play a key factor in getting “answers” but as time goes on, the amount of questions we propose seems to plummet. Why is that?

The answer stems from the fact that information is just given to us. We don’t have time to ask these questions because the answers are already handed to us. Thus, curiosity runs flat, our ability to retain new information falls short, and we no longer have this motivation to find an answer when we are already given one. Having mentioned everything, I now arrive at the main focus of this writing piece, curiosity. The force of curiosity is so strong and instead of brushing it off, I believe that it’s necessary in order to fulfill one’s desires and goals.

Have you ever been in class when you just can’t understand the lesson or just about anything in that class? Questions overfill your mind but you can’t pull yourself together and ask for help, or better yet, ask questions about the topic. You think it’s embarrassing or asking questions in front of the class will make you look like less compared to your peers. This is why kids’ questions drop. We become too scared to express our questions, yet asking them could help us get that better grade or achieve our long term goal. An example of this can be seen within the  film “Scavengers.”  Throughout the short film it is shown that time and time again these explorers are going through an intricate process of harvesting and manipulating their environment to fit their needs. Their plan all comes together when they look into a glowing ball and see what looks like a modern city filled with busy streets and crowds of people. Without their sense of curiosity the scavengers couldn’t have thoroughly explored their surroundings, which would have prevented them from meeting their end goal.

Sometimes being curious allows us to branch out and uncover new discoveries that would have just been avoided if we kept it to ourselves. Hiding your curiosity will only limit your creativity and your ability to learn and discover new things. Blair Somerville, a New Zealand artist was featured in a short video titled “Lost and Found.” The video takes the audience into Blair Somerville’s home and shows some of his artistic inventions. One thing that stands out from the video is Somerville’s carefree and nonchalant attitude. By embracing his curiosity and collecting rather useless or trashed artifacts and repurposing into something new, Somerville creates unique and never before seen pieces of art. He expresses his curiosity in these trinkets by saying, “Generally I like basing my ideas around what I have available to me. The recycled stuff, the natural stuff. I like working with stuff that had a different life.” His curiosity drives him to collect these pieces and really illustrates the saying “Another man’s trash is another man’s treasure.” 

Many may argue that curiosity can drive people into danger or into situations that pose problems. Although this may be the case sometimes, you only learn from your mistakes and grow from it. Being curious, exploring, and asking questions plays a vital part in growth and development of how we are as people, it’s how we learn. A strong example of this can be seen in the Japanese animated movie Spirited Away. Without spoiling too much, it is evident that Chihiro’s sense of curiosity puts her in the right direction to her ultimate goal. Saving her parents. Those who have seen the movie might argue that  Chihiro’s parents’ curiosity was the only reason why problems were caused and why they were the reason why their family was in danger. However, it is Chihiro’s curiosity that made her wander around the spirit world and figure out a plan to save her parents. Not to mention that this part in the movie was a whole turning point for her character as she became less selfish and more selfless. From the beginning of the movie it is notable that Chihiro is upset as she has to leave her friends and school behind as she moves to a new city, but she’s only thinking of herself and not the new opportunity given to her family. Throughout the movie, as her curiosity causes her to make new discoveries and go on adventures Chihiro becomes more confident and finds her identity. This exemplifies the importance of staying curious as it helps shape you into the person you become.

Curiosity is something that is often brushed off and ignored, but what a lot of people don’t realize is how vital it is and how it contributes to the way we learn. The force of curiosity is much stronger than we think and instead of ignoring it, express it. Keep asking questions. Keep wondering about everything, even if it seems insignificant. Because in the end, those questions you have because of your curiosity can lead you to learn something that you would have never thought was possible.