We all become great explorers during our first few days in a new

“We all become great explorers during our first few days in a new city, or a new love affair.” Thus wrote Mignon McLaughlin, the sharp and tender observer of the human heart, whose words revealed not only wit, but the deep pulse of truth beneath the surface of ordinary life. In this saying, she unveils a universal secret: that within every soul burns a yearning to discover, to feel anew, to step beyond the familiar and behold the world — or another human being — with the eyes of wonder. For in those first luminous days of discovery, whether in a strange land or the dawn of love, the heart awakens from its slumber and remembers that life, at its core, is an adventure.

To explore is to live with openness, curiosity, and courage. The traveler who wanders through the streets of a new city sees not only buildings and roads, but possibilities — the way light falls upon the stones, the music of foreign tongues, the scent of unknown flowers in the air. So too does the lover, newly touched by affection, explore the landscape of another soul — each glance, each word, each silence a new horizon to be discovered. In both journeys, the self is reborn. The world, once ordinary, becomes infinite again.

Mignon McLaughlin, who lived through the changing tides of the twentieth century, knew the paradox of modern life: that we move through it quickly, but seldom deeply. Her words remind us that the explorer’s heart — the same heart that drives men to climb mountains or sail across oceans — still stirs within us, though we now travel through the landscapes of emotion and connection as much as geography. She teaches that curiosity is not confined to maps or compasses, but can guide us through the terrain of our own experience.

Think of Christopher Columbus, who crossed an unknown sea to seek a world that he could not yet imagine. In that moment of departure, he embodied the courage of all who seek something greater than comfort — those who dare the unknown. And yet, McLaughlin’s wisdom reminds us that we need not sail to foreign shores to awaken that same spirit. When we step into a new city, or open our hearts to another human being, we too become voyagers upon uncharted waters. For every new relationship is a continent unexplored, and every new beginning a horizon yet unseen.

But time, ever the thief, dulls this wonder. The new city grows familiar; the new love becomes routine. The heart, which once thrilled at every detail, begins to move mechanically through streets it no longer sees. The explorer within us falls silent. McLaughlin’s insight, then, is not only a celebration, but a warning: that we lose something sacred when we forget how to look with the eyes of discovery. The challenge of life is not merely to begin with wonder, but to sustain it — to see the familiar as if it were still new, to love as though every day were the first.

Consider the story of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, the aviator and author of The Little Prince. Flying above deserts and oceans, he discovered that exploration is not merely the search for new lands, but for new ways of seeing. In his tale, the Little Prince looks upon an ordinary rose and finds in it the whole universe of love — fragile, eternal, and alive. So must we learn to behold our cities and our loves: not with the weary eyes of habit, but with the reverence of discovery.

And so, my children, take this truth to heart: be explorers always. When you arrive in a new place, let your curiosity guide your steps; when you meet a new soul, let your wonder guide your heart. But above all, do not let time rob you of that sacred vision. Return often to the spirit of your first days — look again at the streets you walk every morning, at the faces you think you already know, and find in them the mystery that never truly faded. The world is still vast; love is still deep; life is still unknown.

For greatness lies not in reaching distant lands, but in keeping the explorer’s fire alive within the heart. Let every dawn be a new discovery, every embrace a new journey. Learn to live as the ancients lived — with eyes open, hearts unguarded, and spirits hungry for wonder. For those who continue to explore — whether in cities or in love — never grow old. They remain, forever, travelers on the endless road of life.