Getting to the right moment might sometimes require a slight detour

When we were kids, almost everyone had this toy called the View Master which offered a window into worlds that existed far away from where you lived. One of my most cherished discs was the Petrified Forest- a ring of images of that mysterious land in Arizona where the trees had been turned to stone.

So, of course when passing by in 2016, I had to stop.

What a disappointment. I won’t go into details about why, because the factors are many, but undeniably a disappointment.

As we were winding our way back home last week, Misti said she really wanted to visit the land of the stone trees. I told her what I thought of it, said it really wasn’t worth our time and maybe we should spend it somewhere else. She pressed. She was right.

This time we did it correctly. Turns out there is a right way to experience something and a less right way. One provides meaning and understanding, the other a let down of expectations. Of course this should come as news to almost no one, but wouldn’t you think that after 50 years of seeing, doing, refining and applying, progress should be made?

The mind blowing moment came when, while doing the visitor’s center tour at the Petrified Forest park, you learn that the world was quite different back then. The trees lying all around us were from 216 million years ago. They fell into the sluggish rain forest river, present at that time, sank to the bottom and were acted upon by minerals in an oxygen free environment. All of this, while fascinating, paled in comparison to the realization that the land we were standing on when and where the trees fell was actually in the general proximity of Costa Rica when it all happened.

The land we were standing on in Arizona, traveled 3,500 miles north over the course of 216 million years.

Now the world I see is different, more complete, makes more sense and links me to a greater truth than before.

The journey from imagination to reality and back again might just be the most important process in my life. Last week I learned that if I don’t receive the message the first time, it’s okay to go back and try again, completely reinforcing the notion that the time and the space you have the experience is just as important as the knowledge gained.

Cheers.