Wonderfully Pointless Questions

Sometimes when you are playing mini golf you come to a hole that all but winks at you and says, "Wanna try that again?" Some people keep walking. Others smile, set the ball back down, and take one more putt. The score has already been written down, so nobody is keeping track anymore. Another shot doesn't count. Which I think is exactly why they take it.

Children do this all the time. They'll play the same hole six or seven times without thinking twice. Another round isn't unusual to them. It's simply what you do when something is fun. What surprised me was noticing adults do it too. Not as often.  Not loudly.  But every now and then, after everyone else has moved on to the next hole, someone quietly takes one more shot.  Or two more.  Or three more. Sometimes they're chasing the hole-in-one that just barely slipped away. Sometimes they're convinced they finally figured out the perfect angle. Mostly I don't think they're chasing anything at all.  They’re just curious.

I’ve done this myself.  As the owner, people tend to think that I’m a master on my own course.  This is not true.  I am mediocre at best.   More than once I’ve thought about figuring out the perfect strategy for each hole. Maybe even share it as a tip-sheet or something.  I haven’t done this, partly because I’d probably get it all wrong, but also because experimenting is fun and I don’t want to get in the way of that.  My best times are when I stop trying to lower my score and start asking wonderfully pointless questions. What if I put a little backspin on it?  Or a clock-wise side-spin?  Or use a longer putter?  A shorter putter?  A kid-sized putter?  A toddler putter!

It turns out there are an awful lot of wonderfully pointless questions just waiting for someone to investigate.

Watching these extra putts has convinced me that adults never really stop being curious. We just stop giving ourselves permission to ask questions that don't lead anywhere. What if... I wonder... Let's find out... Those may be some of the healthiest questions we ever ask precisely because they don't have to accomplish anything.

Sometimes it's enough to wonder. Sometimes it's enough to play. And sometimes... Something wonderful happens.