Things that make me wonder

Kathleen Anderson writes The Sage Connection in The JOLT.

I had lunch and delightful conversation the other day with a friend and one of the things that popped up was the amount of time I spend inside my head.

This is nothing new. My mother used to get notes on my report card about the amount of time I spent daydreaming in certain classes. Be forewarned – if I find you or your conversation boring, I will simply go inside my head where things are infinitely more interesting. I may smile and occasionally nod but I am not there.

The little voice inside my head speaks about many things. It is also helpful when I am trying figure out something before I speak aloud about it. The little voice often signals possible dangerous decisions. Unfortunately, I don’t always pay attention to those.

This morning, for instance, I was listening to the news and the sports announcer was on and I began to wonder why they all sound alike. I can tell the difference in the voices of various newscasters but never the guys doing sports. They all seem to have the same baritone voice, pitch and level of excitement.

Our dog has one level of bark for a family member or friend arriving at our door but an entirely different one for a stranger and I can tell the difference immediately, but not for which sportscaster is currently raving.

Now I hesitate to bring this up for fear some scientist will read this and immediately get a grant for  billions of dollars to study it… and that will lead to other wonderings about why they get the grant but we can’t cure cancer…but I digress…

I have another friend who claims that magic does not exist. I can spend hours on this one. How can you see a flower bud bloom, a tree bear fruit or the feelings evoked by a baby’s smile and not believe in magic? And by the way, how does a tree know what kind of fruit it’s supposed to bear? I know the scientific answer. I want to hear it from the tree.

Why are some people inherently kind and others cruel? Why is there always a war somewhere? Why do some children thrive in difficult situations and others never make it to their first birthday?

As you can see my head is a very busy place.

Sometimes I wonder why great musicians, artists and minds die before I am done enjoying them? And I often wonder about how great lyricists get their ideas for songs, writers for their incredible stories and poets their beautiful flowing language.

I wonder why the man who wrote Games of Thrones didn’t get to write the ending for the show.

I watch the newest generation of my family growing and learning and wonder what they will do with their lives. I probably won’t get to see it but I sometimes get the feeling I will know somehow.

I wonder why, when I go to the doctor, they are always so full of doom and gloom. I need to lose weight, exercise more, take this medication, use my mind to keep it useable, and so on. Why do I never hear “Good Job, Kathleen. You are still upright”!

I wonder why we set limits. Most of the things I’ve accomplished were because it never occurred to me I couldn’t.

Most of all I wonder why laughter is so important to me. If I don’t laugh several times a day, I count it as a loss. I adore people who bring laughter into my life and crave more of it. Some of the best belly laughs I ever had were at my own foibles.

And sometimes I just sit and wonder if other people wonder about the same things I do…or if they have more exciting things to wonder about.

Inside my head is a magical place. And if I someday go to live there full time. It will be ok … not to worry. I will be having a wonderful time.

Kathleen Anderson writes this column each week from her home in Olympia.  Contact her at   kathleen@theJOLTnews.com or post your comment below.