Re: Search
from the catchmydrift.blog archives
Searching is what adventurers do. Some questers are fictional: Sherlock Holmes searched for clues to solve the unsolvable, Don Quixote searched for wrongs to be righted, James T. Kirk journeyed to find new worlds. Sir John Franklin was a real life adventurer. He searched for a Northwest Passage to China over the top of North America. When he and his crew disappeared a massive search was joined to unlock the mystery of their whereabouts.
One of my first memorable desires was to search the seven seas with Jacques Cousteau. I enrolled in Marine Biology at university to achieve what had become an adult goal. However, during the course of my studies I had to do an inner search. I questioned whether I had the right stuff to live life away from home and family. In this soul searching, I concluded that being a family man, married to a like minded woman was my primary goal. I quested for Mrs. Right: a woman with a heart of gold.
That seemed like an adventure that would be the ticket to my happiness. Along with my search to find the secrets to a loving family I ventured into the world of religion. I self studied various texts and practised what could be found in the community of the United Church of Canada. I joined choirs, became a soloist. One choir leader found that I often changed some of the lyrics as I sang. When she asked why, I told her that my search for God hadn’t yet made me accept some of the script. She showed me how grace can be found through understanding. A hymn that captured my spiritual belief at that time was turned into a cool folk song by Jim Croce,
When I started writing columns for a daily paper I enjoyed searching for the right words. I would pore through my small collection of books looking for quotes and phrasing. I had friends (research assistants?) at the local library who looked things up for me when I’d exhausted my personal resources. My eldest son is a historical writer and researcher. He digs deep to find primary source information: diaries, letters, journals, original news stories. My first wife used to love searching through microfiche to unearth dead ancestors.
Internet search engines are a game changer. For those who love knowledge, web sites can open worlds of information. Access to facts that previously had to be dug up like a pirate’s buried treasure, now spring to life at the typing of a few computer keys. I first tried Alta Vista, Excite (I liked that name) then Yahoo before I settled on everyone’s favourite: Google. How did we ever manage before we could ‘just google it’? When I want specifics I go to Youtube (music&video clips), IMDB or Rotten Tomatoes (film information) or Wikipedia (historical profiles).
Whether you travel abroad to search for answers or sit in Zen-like contemplation. One must do as Captain Jean-Luc Picard commands: