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“The word ‘question’ is derived from the Latin ‘quarrier’ (to seek) which is also the root of ‘quest.’
A creative life is a continued quest, and good questions can be very useful guides.
Most useful are open-ended questions; they allow for fresh unanticipated answers to reveal themselves.“
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Source Unknown
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Well.
I have no clue whether the quote/information I began this post with is true or correct or not <I could not verify for sure> … but I do know for sure I like it.
Seeking.
Quests.
Questioning as a quest.
I love it.
I love all aspects.
Now.
To me.
It seems more often than not we ask questions with a destination already in mind.
Well.
That really isn’t questioning.
That’s more like herding to an answer you have <whether it is truth or not>.
A Life truth?
Real questioning I imagine isn’t for the faint of heart.
Unlike a lawyer <never ask a question you don’t know the answer to> most of us should be asking lots of questions we do not know the answer to.
Oh my.
In business that thought is … well … frightening. Simplistically this means you are at the mercy of the answer. Or at least at the mercy of where you go after the answer.
Ok.
The reality is the only way to not be frightened is you have to strengthen your critical thinking skills. Why?
Well.
If questions are a quest … quests are often not linear or straight lines to wherever you may be going <even assuming you know where you are going>. It is more a ‘wandering with a direction in mind.’
In addition.
To not be frightened you must have some … well … courage in one’s self? Notice I did not suggest ‘confidence.’ I did not because I am not sure it is purely confidence. I also do not want to confuse the issue with making it sound like you ‘know’ anything other than you ‘know you will survive’ no matter where the questioning takes you. That is courage and not confidence.
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“His own people had forbidden him to go into the garden of weapons, to play with the deadly flowers.
But he had already, unknowingly, touched the poisonous pollen, filling him with the need to see his duty until the end.”
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John Gardner
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This ‘quest’ I am discussing becomes difficult because so often we fear not being needed or showing some sort of value.
Therefore questions tend to often be asked with the intent to showcase value <and within that thought one could suggest we do NOT ask questions because we fear some of them may actually diminish perceived value we are offering>.
Whew.
This can get tiring if you think about it too much.
And in fact … I do believe we over think this whole questions and quest thing.
So let’s not over think.
Go on the quest.
Have the courage to learn, unlearn, and gather knowledge like flowers from an open field <or garden of weapons>.
Suffice it to say … I believe once you have entered the garden of weapons … played with the deadly flowers called curiosity … you will feel the need to see out your quest. In fact. I also tend to believe then quarrier becomes a duty. A duty to learn and to know and to become ‘more’ than what you are today.
You won’t get caught up on what it looks like to anyone else.
And if you don’t get caught up with what anyone else is thinking you can simply enjoy the quest.
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“Enjoy the questions and forget the answers.”
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Paulo Coelho
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