Let’s Talk Wonder
Did you lose your sense of wonder along the path to adulthood? Can I encourage you to go find it this holiday season?
Wonder…as a noun, not a verb. Defined as something strange and surprising, a cause of surprise, astonishment, or admiration. I try very hard at 54 to keep a sense of wonder about the world around me. As I write this, I am in a metal tube at 30000 feet in the air, going 511 miles an hour. Flying has always been a wonder to me. It never gets old, and I live for the window seat to peer out and let my mind play in the clouds. It’s just so beautiful up here. Down on the ground, it’s a little harder to stay present and find wonders in the mundane. I never had children, but I have to imagine if you can shake off the sleep deprivation for a few minutes, it must be fascinating to see the world again through a child’s eyes. Everything is so new to them. Seeing a bee flit from flower to flower, its little striped butt dancing through the air. The fresh fall of snowflakes and the icy kiss it leaves on the cheek. The biting citrus of a lemon wedge sucked on for the first time. Squishing mud through fingers and toes after a rain storm.
When did we lose our childlike wonder of this big giant rock? One way I have found to keep wonder alive is to travel. Traveling to Sicily this summer gave me ample opportunity for wonder. Standing under olive trees that were 1500 years old, admiring their muted green leaves and knubby trunks. Sinking my feet into soft sand and the cool waters of the Tyrrenian Sea. I’ve always had acompulsion to dip my toes into the waters on my voyages. From the North Sea in the Netherlands to the Aegean Sea in Mykonos to the Mediterranean Sea in Rhodes to the Gulf in Destin. Something about water stirs wonder in me. Maybe it’s the sense of home or the grounding that I feel. I can’t explain it and therein lies the wonder.
December brings all kinds of wonder with it’s holiday cheer. Do you remember being a kid and coming down the stairs on Christmas morning to a nibbled cookie, a half drunk glass of milk and presents galore that magically appeared under a tree. Talk about astonishment. Living in New York, it’s easy to get into the holiday spirit when the City starts decorating in the middle of November. The Rockefellar Tree gets delivered, the holiday markets open up and ice skating in Bryant Park in the shadow of the Empire State Building kick off the festivities. I’m sure it’s more of a challenge when you’re the one in charge of changing the decorations every month on top of an already busy life. But can I encourage you to take your time this year and find the wonder in the everyday miracles and luxuries that this time of year brings? Something as simple as the first fall of snow, which I’m hoping comes this week. I mean come on, go read about snow here and I double dog dare you not to be astonished.
