When the national parks close, and thinking time increases...continue to wonder/wander.

Oftentimes I find myself wondering...

I wonder why certain things scare some people and not others.

I wonder why the world was created in the way it is (for beauty, for purpose, for desire, etc.).

I wonder why death claims one and not the other.

I wonder why we bottle things up instead of releasing them, talking about them, and letting them heal.

I wonder why we're afraid to step outside our comfort zones...when we know growth is beautiful.

I wonder why people repeat what they know instead of exploring the new.

I wonder why it's so challenging to admit our hardest struggles, when we all struggle deeply.

I wonder why people give-up and let go so easily.

I wonder why cheddar cheese is dyed orange, why music sinks so deeply into the soul, why flying cars haven't yet been built (it is, after all, 2020, and I seem to remember a writing prompt from middle school..."Write about how the world will look in the year 2025, when scientists predict there will be flying cars."...we have some work to do in the next 5 years!).

...

There are many more thoughts and questions that flow through the recesses of my mind (...which actually feels like it's at recess, with bonus thinking time from COVID isolation...).  As I ponder, I realize that pondering is a journey that doesn't always lead to the expected destination.  If allowed, though, pondering can open up even better questions, reveal deeper truths, or lead to a fuller understanding about something one could never have guessed would relate to the originally pondered pondering.  It can be painful, beautiful, agonizing, healing, and always growing when continued to an end. Such a journey may not seem for the faint of heart! 

But ... perhaps the journey is for ALL because true wonder inspires growth.  The faint will get stronger with learning, the proud more humble, the shy more confident, the hidden more known.   In wondering with observant eyes, reflective hearts, a bit of introspection, and a lot of openness we will adventure even though the national parks are closed; we will wander our souls.

"Not all who wander are lost."  (John Muir)

May the trails of our wandering wonderings be expansive, revealing and growing as we ask to learn, and reflect to grow.