The word from my heart pocket is Wonder!
It's no wonder that life can carry us away. Something catches our eye and then captures our heart and off we go! Oh, the wonder of it all!
How long has it been since you've experienced wonder?
It does take a minute to notice, but truly, wherever we look - head down and walking into the wind, lying on your back and watching the stars, following the flight of a flock of birds, letting the worker ants lead you to and fro ...
Children are natural wonderers. The reason isn't that children are more capable. No. The reason is that so much is new to them. Somehow, as we get older, some of us get distracted from the wonderful parts of life by paying too much homage to logistics. It's not that we don't value wonder, but we've bought into the notion that there isn't enough - time, money, space, solutions, possibilities. And we've given most of the credit and much of our power to those who first, created an atmosphere that is limiting, and second, who spread the word that it's the only way. Oh dear. Not true. Not true at all.
What is true is that the act of wondering is the beginning of creativity. And creativity is the spark of life. The creators in our world - the ones that persist, who insist on self-expression through art, innovation, business, leadership - are admired, revered and sometimes rewarded with fame and fortune. We say to our children "someday, you, too, will achieve greatness!" And then we squash the wonder that is the flash that starts the fire of the passion required to persist unto the realization of their dreams. Indeed, we do this to ourselves, too.
We don't need permission to wonder. We can do it at any moment and our world is better for our curiosity. Wonder is an incredible exercise of our being. It is an activity that is whole. We can experience wonder exactly as we did as a child - exactly - if we can let go of the manufactured notion that to be an adult is to be solemn and reserved. That is not to say that if a person is solemn and reserved he cannot experience wonder! It is to say that wonder is directly related to who we are, what we deem valuable, what is of interest to us. Is it numbers? Or insects? or sound? or persuasion? What fascinates us, makes us stop to watch? What triggers a train of thought?
Wonder is fun. It is also serious business. Wonder is the basis of learning. It exists in everything and even though its time slot in education has been replaced by memorization and all things wrote, it will not die. There are teachers who know this. There are parents and mentors who still practice wonder. There are children everywhere to lead us right where want to be.
Why is it that when the snow falls silently in the dark of night, my heart almost stops with the wonder of it? I am always compelled to stand inside the wonder, tongue and eyelashes delighted to be catching the cold treats from the sky. I am amazed and fascinated by the delicate construction of snowflakes and have spent a great deal of time examining them - very quickly, of course, because if you don't you lose the opportunity - and no matter how old I become, this gift of nature will always be a wonder to me.
Children do not have the corner on the wonder market. It is a marketplace open to each of us, in every second, at every turn. Examine, explore, discover, delight! Be wonderful today!
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment