Wondering and Wandering

“Wonder isn’t about finding answers; it’s about becoming more comfortable with questions.”
― Leigh Ann Henion

“A person does not grow from the ground like a vine or a tree, one is not part of a plot of land. Mankind has legs so it can wander.”
― Roman Payne

Language may be the most fascinating thing to me. I cannot help myself with how much words can completely consume my consciousness. The human ability to have such complex language (across all languages) is a great differentiation between us and most other living things.
*Although if we found the writings of some other creature you better believe I’d be the FIRST in line to learn the language and read them!

In the english language alone there are approximately 171,476 officially defined and “active” words. 47,156 words additionally have been defined but are no longer being used, and are called: “obsolete words.”

Here’s where it gets bananas.
People have submitted over 470,000 different english words that are “NOT” officially defined in dictionaries. They are actively being used in social circles with agreed upon meanings.

Ok, here is where I get to NERD out for a second.
OF all of these hundreds of thousands of combinations of letters that make words that make sounds that make meanings….

TWO OF MY ABSOLUTE FAVORITE WORDS IN THE WORLD HAVE ONE LETTER DIFFERENT.

And they are (drumroll)

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Wonder-
Noun: a feeling of surprise mingled with admiration, caused by something beautiful, unexpected, unfamiliar, or inexplicable.
Verb: desire or be curious to know something

Wander- walk or move in a leisurely, casual, or aimless way.

One feels RICH with internal investments. Mind is engaged, heart is engaged.

The other? Feels like it comes more from a “being” place. When we “wander” we are not necessarily detached from our minds and hearts, but we are engaged with our body, its sense, and state of BEING more.

*Lets use them together in a real sentence I would write in my journal.*

I spend most of my conscious minutes WONDERING about a great many things, but worrying that I am just WANDERING around and getting nowhere.

How about that sentence right?!?
Oh words. I love you.

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How many of you have seen someone have this famous quote by J.R.R. Tolkien tattooed on them, social media posted or bumper sticker(ed) somewhere: “Not all who wander are lost.”

Why does it resonate so deeply and so widely with so many?

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Now wonders turn. I have 100000000 things to say about the importance of curiosity, wonder, searching, questioning, seeking, etc…. They are all words from the same litter.

I even have about 10 quotes I could NOT choose from for this article alone. I’ll let you know this though sweet reader. In my estimation of things:

WONDERING is what it’s ALL about.
Its the “hokey pokey” dance of life. You put your whole self in, you take your whole self out, you put your whole self in… and you shake it all about…. Thats what it’s all about!

Wondering is how lost things become found.
Wondering is how the spark of interest and desire lives on.
Wondering is the food source for our brains.
Wondering keeps us young.
Wondering keeps us learning.
Wondering keeps us flexible.
Wondering takes such little effort.
Wondering takes us from our present into imagination.
Wondering takes complex concepts and simplifies, takes simple concepts and expands.


WONDERING IS WHERE ITS AT Y’ALL.

Wandering is HUMAN.

I embrace both words that help express the human experience and only share one vowel difference with each other.

I am going to WANDER through nature every now and then and just “BE” with it.
I am also going to WONDER about anything and everything (probably most of the time.) The less I pretend to know, the happier I am.

Life is FULL of WANDER and WONDER (full)

Can you see it?
Do you feel it?

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Sending love OUT to you always. I hope you can feel it.
Taking love IN from you anytime you give it. It gives me life.

-Aubrey

P.s. BONUS QUOTES (because I’m telling you. They are SO good)

“I think us here to wonder, myself. To wonder. To ask. And that in wondering bout the big things and asking bout the big things, you learn about the little ones, almost by accident. But you never know nothing more about the big things than you start out with. The more I wonder, the more I love.”
― Alice Walker

“To see a World in a Grain of Sand
And a Heaven in a Wild Flower,
Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand
And Eternity in an hour.”
― William Blake

“Youth is happy because it has the capacity to see beauty. Anyone who keeps the ability to see beauty never grows old.”
― Franz Kafka

“The world is full of magic things, patiently waiting for our senses to grow sharper.”
― W.B. Yeats

“Look at everything always as though you were seeing it either for the first or last time: Thus is your time on earth filled with glory.”
― Betty Smith

“The more clearly we can focus our attention on the wonders and realities of the universe about us, the less taste we shall have for destruction.”
― Rachel Carson