Questioning It All

The most profound questions in life that find us tossing and turning at 3am have no answers on Google, yet nature seems to dangle some sort of carrot for us in the confusion and questioning.

While it may not offer concrete answers, nature provides depth into the wonder of it all. Nature has always had a strong pull on me, and in all my years of exploring, I am finding that the beauty and magic of trees are speaking to me more than ever before. The giant redwood seems to know all my secrets as it towers over me with great majesty.

The whispy willow is a soft blanket that has me thinking about all the inexplicable things that life shows us, all the tentacles of our life and all the ways in which we sway with the wind and the storms we brave. The oaks that line the trail seem to walk with me in unison the same way life does when things are in alignment. The roots are coming out of the ground of the maple trees that offer shade and color, subtle hues of summer creeping up on us, the same way life and its hardships unearth parts of our souls that we didn't even know existed.

I find myself more and more often stopping mid-stride to contemplate how the trees came about. Who planted them? Why here? Why this particular tree? How old is it? How many has it offered cover from the rain and shade from the sun? It's interesting how we humans are wired to seek answers but are perpetually surrounded by mystery.

It's funny that we actually have the audacity to make meager attempts at mastering life. We create extensive systems, theories, and spreadsheets only to have reality throw curveballs that defy our careful planning. This idea of sitting in silence to find some revelation and come out of the depths with deeper understanding is a noble pursuit, but often just that. While the silence gives us a sense of tranquility, quite often we step out of that reverie into greater confusion. It seems we frequently emerge from contemplation with more questions than answers.

Human certainty is like a toddler confidently explaining how airplanes work - "the sky pushes them."

But as we venture into the unknown territory and treacherous terrain of adulthood, we come to find the greatest certainty is uncertainty itself. There's a paradoxical comfort in life's mysteries. A sort of surrender descends upon us when we accept we do not know and perhaps will never know, no matter how hard we try to rub thoughts and theories together.

Even the greatest minds throughout history have embraced uncertainty as a birthplace of wonder. Richard Feynman delighted in not knowing, while Einstein believed that mystery is "the source of all true art and science." Our most meaningful experiences—falling in love, witnessing a child's wonder, experiencing profound beauty—resist complete explanation. The inexplicable warmth of holding a loved one's hand, the strange alchemy of ingredients becoming more than their sum all add to the mystery of life.

So perhaps all of the questions should be an invitation into awakening curiosity. Maybe life's unanswered questions aren't bugs in the system but features—the blank spaces on our maps are where the most interesting journeys begin.

For a little more inspiration in this bent - listen in to this incredible conversation on the Blossom Your Awesome Podcast with the remarkable Katherine Jansen-Byrkit author of River To Ocean: Living In The Flow Of Wakefulness ——— Ep. 19 - Wakefulness