‘Pondering’

Report on TC conversation 26.2.25

Our conversation on 26th February was facilitated by Sarah, using an abridged version of materials created for one of a five-part series.

We were shown images and texts about ‘pondering,’ and asked: ‘What does pondering mean to you?’ and ‘What do you ponder most?’ Our thoughts were as follows:

It can mean taking time to think over something before acting but it’s ok if it is non-productive too, because it can feel like permission to not do anything in particular, which can be nourishing and replenishing in itself. Sometimes it needs a topic, so it could be about our work, but sometimes it is about having time to just be, and then it can have the surprising result of bringing us to an answer to something we hadn’t even realised we were pondering at all. Is there a negative aspect to it? Possibly, when it becomes procrastination, but the crisis of inactivity inherent in that could be a result of not having had proper reflection time before doing something, which brings us back to the value of pondering. We heard about someone tiling a kitchen who took the first couple of hours to ponder and plan, a necessary stage. Did we ponder in our youth or childhood? Some of us were too busy, others are lifelong ponderers. Among the images, we were struck by the internal pattern of a shell and the apparent impossibility of balancing stones; and a text about a spider’s web helped us see how the fragility of our own minds can be both negative and positive. And someone remarked: ‘pondering can radiate love’. Now, there’s something to think about!