Wonderful

One of my favorite must-watch shows as a kid was Star Trek: The Next Generation. I loved the adventure of meeting new people across the universe, discovering new cultures, fighting the Borg (eek!) and the Romulans (boo!), all set in a future that felt optimistic and impossibly slick and cool. At its core, Star Trek was telling a story as old as humanity: our endless desire to explore, to understand, and to push beyond the edges of what we think we know.

You have to admit, this goes hard.

That same spirit of wonder runs through my most recent conversations with Kev LeStarge and Gerry Wilson.

In Kev’s book, Billy Finds Bigfoot, Billy wanders into the woods to find a fox and meets Bigfoot. Spoiler warning: Billy isn’t scared. He was never taught to be. Bigfoot isn’t a monster or rarity to him, just someone who might help him find the fox he’s searching for. Kev himself follows that same path of curiosity, heading into the woods on expeditions because he refuses to stop exploring the world’s mysteries. And hey, it’s fun!

This week’s guest (8/28), we meet Gerry Wilson, author of That Pinson Girl, and turned to history. Gerry became a published novelist at 82, drawing on her Mississippi heritage and family stories. The novel is set in World War I and follows Leona Pinson, a young woman navigating loss, judgment, and the struggle to claim her own strength. Gerry’s story is a reminder that passion doesn’t have a deadline. 

Kev and Gerry may walk very different paths, but they’re both following the drumbeat of their hearts: exploring the unknown within and outside of us, honoring the stories we carry, and stoking the flame of passion that lights us up.

When we step into the unknown, we are stretched beyond comfort and certainty. The unknown demands curiosity, humility, and courage. It forces us to rely on one another, to create new maps together, and to see the world and ourselves with fresh eyes. The act of searching together is what builds community, and that spirit of curiosity and wonder is something we should always try to embrace.

If you’re open to it: Where do you find your sense of wonder? What do you do with it? Maybe you don’t right now, and that’s okay. Take ten minutes this week and step outside. Just watch. What do you notice?

xoxo, Meghan