So, basically my constant saying to myself "I don't understand this" and digging in deeper until I do plus feeling like there's so much more to learn is... a good thing.
Seems so. Been doing something similar my whole life myself.
The biggest thing you can do for yourself, as best i can tell, is to admit you don't know, and then go digging for info rather than just accept that you don't know (or worse go on to pretend you do).