Fairies, My Dear Watson

I recently took an online quiz—the kind that promises to identify one of your most prominent personality traits in about fifteen questions. My result? Open-mindedness.

After thinking it over, I’d say that’s true—to a fault. It’s hard to get a short answer from me. If you ask my opinion on something—anything—I’d much rather write myself an essay first, explore all the angles, then get back to you with a fully qualified response.

I marvel at the deep thinkers who seem to have carefully considered every subject and can offer a thoughtful opinion in the moment. I like to think that my hesitance doesn’t signal indecisiveness, but rather a thoughtful, nonjudgmental mind—logical, yes, but wide open to possibility.

Which brings me to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

The brilliant creator of Sherlock Holmes—perhaps the most logical detective of all time—was, himself, surprisingly open-minded. In 1920, he was convinced of the existence of fairies based on photographs presented by two young cousins, Elsie Wright and Frances Griffiths. Their famous “Cottingley Fairies” images captivated the world—and Conan Doyle.

Now, I don’t think believing in fairies makes him gullible. Nor does it make me, when I confess that just this past March, I spent a long afternoon in the woods attempting to make fairies look real.

The world has always been full of wonder for me. I love questioning, learning, discovering—and apparently, I still like to play.