Often I have wondered what guides my curiosity. Of the people I know who are curious about various topics, there is often an underlying theme. I’m slightly envious of this sometimes as I feel as if I can’t make as much leeway on learning about topics if I’m darting from thing to thing. This has been something I’ve found myself reflecting on as of late. I have struggled to understand what the underlying theme in all my curiosities was.

About two months ago, I watched an interview with Jim Simons (Rest In Peace), a mathematician and one of the greatest investors of all time, and he said, “Be guided by beauty. Beauty is an aesthetic. There is beauty in things that work well – the way a company is run or the way a theorem comes out.” In a world where practicality, industry, and productivity often take precedence, Simons’ commitment to the beauty which lies in knowledge, and the success which followed, has served to me as a reminder of the benefits of seeking knowledge for knowledge’s sake.

With this in mind, I’ve been able to gain a new appreciation for the intrinsic beauty of each of my hobbies. I’ve been able to fully immerse myself in the beauty of the task at hand, and not be overwhelmed by whether or not I’m optimizing my productivity. I’ve been able to fully appreciate the beauty of: a well played G-chord on an acoustic guitar; a well worded piece of poetry; a piece of code finally compiling, resulting in a tangible output; the way a 6′ Pyzel surfboard glistens as it runs across a glassy wave; a few notes on the harmonica complimenting each other perfectly; an idea coming together in my head as I write it on a piece of paper.

“Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it.” – Confucius

Just to go off on a quick tangent, not being overly worried about the productivity of the task at hand has allowed me to be fully present in said task. What has followed has been a greater mental clarity and acuity, and a quiet, yet productive mind. Another reminder of the value of presence.