The Art of Pondering - A Search for Meaning

Art of Pondering March 9, 2013 2:15-3:00 p.m.Marketing gurus and life coaches are constantly tossing around words like “niche” and “brand.” To be perfectly honest, both words kind of make me gag. It probably comes from living inside a perfectly constructed box for much of my life and now that I’ve broken free I resist going back inside. But… and there’s always a but… if I had to select my niche or brand then I would have to say it is Pondering. I Ponder.  

So today in preparation for my upcoming talk at Seattle University’s Search for Meaning Book Festival, I’ve penned a few words on “The Art of Pondering.”

Peering into the world, we open it up and turn it over inside our minds. We do this in ways that only we can uniquely do for ourselves.

The act of pondering reminds me of my son as a child capturing bees in a jar on ordinary yet extraordinary summer days. Carefully and with dedicated focus, he would scoop the flying gold and black bodies into the glass container and close the lid with one smooth movement. Then he observed his catch with curiosity for a brief time before reopening the jar and releasing the bees back into the world and starting the process again.

            He was curious, observational, gentle, and extremely attuned with what he was doing… like a scientist fascinated with a new discovery or a fly fisherman performing catch and release. From my perspective, he was engaged in the art of pondering.

            He used simple tools—a jar with lid and his curiosity. I, too, have my own simple tools… most often a basic composition notebook and Bic pen. I’ve tried more elaborate objects—designer journals, hand-crafted pens—but then the act became more about the tools than the process. Was my writing “important enough” for an expensive journal? Would my fountain pen run out of ink at an inopportune time?

            Pondering is an art with few rules. It’s uncanny how when I require perfect tools or have a specific outcome in mind, my results are often stilted or flat. It reminds me of another insect, this time a caterpillar. When my son became overly zealous with one and held on too tightly, the fuzzy little guy disintegrated.  I realize he would have died sometime, but not letting go (holding tightly) left my son feeling responsible for the early demise.  He held onto it kind of like we hold onto thoughts. It’s all my fault. I have to figure this out. I need to understand this now. In pondering (as in life)… when we start to attach to our thoughts or hold on too tightly to outcomes, I believe it’s time to pause, breathe, come back to center and let it go!

~~~ 

Pondering is about giving weight (or attention) to something for a period of time and then letting it go. It’s about freedom not confinement. That doesn’t mean pondering is always easy. Sometimes I ponder very heavy topics like broken relationships, job fears, world disasters, but the essence of pondering is that I enter it without trying to fix anything or reach a predetermined result.

            The art of pondering allows space for whatever needs to arise… and often… most often… I have no idea what that is.

            Pondering is like art… stay with it long enough and something will emerge (even if it’s a blank page).

            Pondering is not prayer although it can be prayerful or prayer-like. It is not meditation, but it is meditative. It isn’t psychotherapy, but may be therapeutic. Often it is spiritual, except of course when we enter it demanding a spiritual connection. Pondering simply is.

            Pondering isn’t about getting anywhere or being anything. It’s not about results, however, the longer I practice the more I feel the benefits. And this is the trap… because pondering often creates more spaciousness and a sense of well-being until I expect that to happen. It’s tricky!

            Pondering is about allowing… allowing things to arise… to flow… or to be stuck. On days I get stuck, I have the opportunity to ponder what that’s all about. Hmm. I wonder why my pen won’t move across the page.

            If pondering “is” anything, the closest cousin might be “presence”—offering our attention, time, and space to the present moment… to what’s happening here and now with what is before us. Or perhaps pondering is art itself:

            “Art, after all, is about rearranging us, creating surprising juxtapositions, emotional openings, startling presences, flight paths to the eternal.” Rosamund and Benjamin Zander

If pondering is art (as defined above) then the key to accessing it may simply be our willingness to open up, be rearranged, and sprout wings. Tell me… are you ready to ponder?

If you live in the Seattle area, you're invited to join me Saturday, March 9, 2013 at Seattle University. I'll be speaking from 2:15 - 3:00 p.m. on "The Art of Pondering." (Free)

Also, come back here Monday, March 18 when I kick off "On the Same Page" - an online book club... "The Art of Possibility."  (Also Free :-) 

I love having pondering partners!!!