Tranquil Fireworks

WHAT UP? Wowzerz, you're back! I'm impressed...truly, I am. And I'm also impressed at how utterly fantastic you look today...I mean it.

Today, I just want to speculate on how spectacular universities really are. And not any specific university (though I have to say mine is pretty great), but just the idea of universities. It is an institution that is completely dedicated to learning, and the expansion of knowledge. It's amazing.

Yesterday, I spent the (rainy) afternoon in the library, and while I know the size of libraries is relative to each school, the vast expanse that a library covers is incredible. I walked through three floors of shelves upon shelves upon shelves of books. The book-lover inside of me tears up every time I walk through said shelves.

There are gorgeously in-tact old books, records, beat-up research journals, encyclopedias, new books, physics books, philosophy books, women's rights books...anything you want. It's there. And it's incredible.

I was doing research for a particular paper for one of my social science classes, but I found myself wandering into the physics section for much longer than I intended. But there is so much knowledge, right at our fingertips, with these books. Thinking about each book, each of the thousands upon thousands of pages, everything on the pages...I found myself wanting to pick up anything and everything, wanting the hours upon days upon years to read all of it.

All right, so I know this looks like a Library Appreciation post...I guess it is. But it's also an Exploration Appreciation post. Because there is so much out there in the world to learn and love. So many things for so many people to have passions for...and so many topics to explore.

I also attended a lecture yesterday, given by an archaeologist, on his journey to the Middle East to excavate sites dating back to the Iron Age. The talk was fascinating; his team was so dedicated to what they were doing, that they were able to find artifacts and leftovers from the past that were barely a few centimeters tall. They were tiny clumps of dirt that ordinarily, someone like me would just look over and assume nothing.

But when they ran the dirt from this sight through a sift, they found these little bitty things. And from five pieces of dirt, no larger than a penny, they were able to begin unraveling history, just a little bit more. These tiny pieces are like tiny history books, telling what went on where, and at what time.

I guess there's no over-arching moral to this post-well, you could find one if you tried. But mainly, it's just to note how much we can learn from anything around us, if we take the time. And to note how awesome that learning is. It blows me away to think about what a person can do with what they learn, what people they can help, what discoveries can be made.

I hope you can take a moment to explore today, Tranquil Fireworks, and I hope you have a wonderful day.