Despite healthcare’s emphasis on “having the right answer,” we rarely discuss what it takes to get the answer. Is the textbook and the expert really the magic portal to all knowledge? Where did that textbook come from? How did the venerated Ph.D. become a fount of knowledge?

Every answer begins as a question. That beautiful butterfly of a synthesized framework started life as an unassuming caterpillar of a question. Someone, somewhere, asked a question that burned inside their soul and sent them on a hero’s journey to find, something.

We can hold the textbook up as a symbol of completion, a mission accomplished. Or we can regard it as proof that the hero’s journey is an invitation extended to all of us.

Catch yourself being curious today. What questions are drifting through your mind? Is there one particular question that promises to take you on a journey and leave you on your death bed with no regrets?