The Pure Joy of Discovery
When is the last time you experienced the pure joy of discovery? Was it as sweet as a ripe cherry just plucked from the tree and totally unrepeatable? Did it leave you floating, excited and happy for hours afterward? Me too.
It was actually my little dog, Maddie, who helped me think about the joy of exploration recently. Maddie is a Maltipoo, an intelligent, inquisitive, curious little dog whose most favorite activity is to explore. Without a doubt, she is a natural-born explorer. We are kindred spirits in this way -- the soul of explorers and the heart of scientists. I have been exploring since I was a little child trekking around the woods behind my home in upstate New York in the foothills of the Adirondacks. Maddie has enjoyed exploring since the day that she came into my life and she is my best exploring and kayaking buddy.
On this day she was out on a grand expedition. We we're not traversing the Antarctic or some amazing landscape in the African Serengeti, although we do live in a beautiful community in Clearwater, Florida right on Tampa Bay. I had time and so allowed Maddie to wander and explore wherever her nose took us. For more than 3 hours we explored, going wherever her nose and instincts wanted to take us. A small part of our journey on this day involved discovering new places in our community that Maddie had not been to before -- behind bushes next to the tennis court; a small trail next to the bamboo trees; an 'undiscovered' path behind a far away condo building. As I watched Maddie's response it struck me as funny and reminded me of something that maybe I had forgotten in my many years -- the sheer Joy discovery. There's nothing like exploration and there is nothing paralleling the sheer Joy of discovering something new. These were not glorious sites from the top the Grand Canyon, but to Maddie, they were a fresh Discovery and she was exploding with joy and grinning from ear to ear (yes, she can grin). This started me thinking and wondering why I was not doing more wandering and exploring. It took a little dog discovering new and exciting things to remind me about my own joy of exploration and discovery. And to remind me to get back out there. Thanks, Maddie. You are the best.
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