The Power of Curiosity

Are there times when you have set your heart on something, feeling relieved knowing that a choice has been made?

When I made the decision to specialise in trees, I thought to myself, ‘Great! I can finally settle on one thing and not try to do everything’. Alas that has not happened, though much to my delight.

When I started my journey on day one – surveying ancient and veteran trees with my mentor – I recall saying then, “Ooh, I could do this for the rest of my life!” And that is still true to this very moment; I have found passion and wonderment through the oldest trees in our landscape, and being able to work with these wise old beings is interlaced so closely with my journey.

Little did I know that my career in trees would open up into layers, nooks and crannies of various subjects and paths that I can choose to specialise in even further: Forestry, arboriculture, woodland surveying, ancient and veteran tree management, tree climbing, woodland management and restoration, research, soil science, forest pathology (tree health), forest ecology, and the list goes on. I am aware that for some people it’s great to choose one and dedicate yourself to the one and only. However I have a sneaky suspicion that I simply enjoy multi-tasking, or perhaps I suffer from FOMO (fear of missing out)?

Trees are so amazing, why would you not want to learn everything there is to understand about them? (I’m not biased I promise). If you really love something that much, I’m sure you will accept and embrace all aspects of it. In this day and age when knowledge is such an understated virtue; to have the curiosity for comprehension and seeking to expand your horizons, is definitely a powerful thing. I truly believe there is no end to knowledge and how much you can learn, even when you choose to ‘specialise’.

So go out there and try everything, don’t miss out on not doing something that you feel you can really enjoy. Life is too short to be stuck in your comfort zone, or just being contented with only knowing what you already know. There is a whole wide world out there to explore, go forth with courage and learn with all your heart.

“The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge.”

Stephen Hawking