Inquiry

"Inquiry is wonder" said a fellow classmate during an inspired discussion about teaching writing. Naturally, at the word wonder I dove into my backpack and grabbed my wonder journal, scrawling this quote on the first blank page. When I had to go back and write my entry, I pondered about what this statement even means. I guess that wondering about something is very similar to inquiring about something, though how are wondering and wonder itself related?

Some ideas I have come to:

• Inquire means to "make a formal investigation," which is decidedly different than simply asking. 
• Inquire comes from a Latin word meaning "seek," again different than asking.
• Inquiry implies action beyond asking questions; it implies looking for an answer, researching, investigating.

In the context of teaching writing, inquiry leads to more engagement and a higher experience. Is this "higher experience" something that can translate to other contexts? Can inquiry about the unknown, the overwhelming, the eternal, the sublime lead to an awe-inspiring experience? I think yes, though I think inquiry is just one of many pathways to an encounter with awe and wonder. What about you guys? Have you thought how "wondering things" leads to wonder itself?