Exploration and Discovery

Every day, there is something new to be discovered, no matter where we live. Exploring is a good form of exercise, especially if it is done on foot. Inspiration for poems and stories can also come from exploration. Exploration can also lead to important discoveries, such as new places to live and new products that could help mankind.

Many important discoveries have been made as a result of exploration. Columbus found the Americas while he was exploring to find a new route to India. Magellan explored to find out if the world really was round, and he proved it. Marco Polo explored Asia to while trying to establish an overland trade route with China, and he did. All of these discoveries, regardless of their impact on the world, came about because of exploration.

Exploration is not a lost art, because it continues even today. Every day, scientists and explorers venture deeper into rainforests, hoping to discover plants, animals, and other things that could benefit mankind through medicines and other products. Nomads explore the desert, looking for new oases on their trade routes as well. Fortune hunters explore the Alaskan and Canadian wildernesses, hoping to find a vein of gold, or to strike oil.

Space is considered by some to be the great, unexplored wilderness. The exploration of space is not a new idea, though only in the recent few decades has technology caught up with the ideas of mankind. Many people hope that exploring space will let us find new sources of energy and suitable places for humans to settle. Science fiction novels often incorporate exploration as a major part of their plots, as do science fiction poems and short stories

My explorations can play a key role in my poetry and short stories. One of my best poems was inspired while I was wandering through the trees one sunny afternoon on the CMC campus. A forest chase scene for a story I have been working on was inspired by my exploration of wooded areas in and near Fayette. Exploration and discoveries seem to help carry the plot of my writing. Writing is a process of exploration and discovery in and of itself.

Exploration is a major part of discovery. Without exploration, discovery cannot take place. Space exploration is more popular, but we are still exploring our own planet and finding something new each day. Exploring allows people to exercise their minds as well as their bodies. Human beings explore and discover new things about their world every single day of their lives

�Rebecca Lynn Oaks 1/25/99