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What is this all about?

About 5 years ago I met up with a friend for lunch, and as we spoke about college, careers, and futures she posed a question: “What is your big thought?” I wasn't sure what she meant, so she clarified that a big thought is an idea or question that you have been mulling over in your mind. It could be about your job, your education, or your hobbies, but the best big thoughts don't fit into any of these categories; at least they don't fit into any single one of these categories. Big thoughts stem from observations about the world or ideas on how to improve something. They are almost always the result of simple curiosity. I realized at that moment that I didn’t have any big thoughts. I could regurgitate some podcast conversation or news story; I could recall the main points of a book I read; but I had no curiosity driving big thoughts about the world around me. Since that conversation I have become interested in cultivating big thoughts in myself and in people around me. So, I have started asking the question to various friends and family: “What is your big thought?” The responses have ranged from theology to sports, from humor to cocktails, but I have never been disappointed to hear what people are thinking about. 

A wonderful side effect of this question is that when asked often enough, it changes the way we see the world. After being asked a few times, we begin to ask ourselves what we are thinking about, and consequently we begin to think more intentionally. I met a dear friend for lunch every few weeks when I lived in Roanoke, and this question became a beautiful part of our routine, which I looked forward to every time we met. I found that when individual curiosities were combined, even more insightful questions were asked. The sum was greater than its parts. 

Even more interesting is the way a curious mindset changes our thinking. When we observe the world with curiosity, we take on an inherently humble mindset. We acknowledge that there are things we don’t know that we want to know. We also have more charitable perspectives on other’s opinions, when we see the value in how they think even if we don’t agree on what they think. 

Answering the “big thought” question helps organize our thinking as well. When ideas bounce around in our heads they tend to exist in a disorganized state. Like ear-bud wires in a pocket, they must be extricated to be organized. While this can be accomplished through conversation, writing also helps, and writing has the advantage of creating a record that can be revisited. 

And so we get to the question at hand. Why start a blog about big thoughts? Because it helps me organize and record my big thoughts about the world. This forum is not meant to be topical or focused on a particular discipline. It is meant to be a space of unbounded curiosity. A place of more questions than answers. A place for the mind to unravel itself. 

Cheers,

Daniel

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