PEBBLE
When my eyes fill with wonder…I do not betray my concerns for the world — I nourish my capacity to attend to them.
~Kristi Nelson, shared by St. Joan of Albany, NY via Grateful Living
BOULDER
How does one cultivate a capacity for wonder? It is a marvelous question to wonder about. Maybe it is nothing other than simply paying attention. Being present, really present, with eyes and ears wide open, seeing and hearing what is really there. All around us. And inside us. Filling us with wonder.
~Neal Aponte, shared by Cheryl in New York via this post
PONDER
“I think a lot about the contrast between banality and wonder.” This is the opening line of a really powerful 3-minute Jason Silva video about wonder and awe that I used to reference in talks I gave on creativity and innovation.
There is one point in the video when he’s talking about “scrambling the brain,” shaking things up so that you can once again be shocked and excited about all that is around you. Experiencing amusement parks, museums or live music/theater events are reliable sources of wonder for sure.
Today’s quotes invite us to expand our capacity of wonder in smaller ways that are a little closer to our everyday lives. A few possibilities:
- Pick a familiar object (your coffee mug, car keys, a pet, your own hand even) and spend thirty seconds noticing details you’ve never noticed before.
- Take a short “wonder walk” and challenge yourself to spot five beautiful, surprising, or peculiar things you normally walk right past.
- Ask “I wonder…” three times today and follow wherever the question leads.
- Spend a minute looking up instead of down. The sky rarely repeats itself.
- Listen closely to a child, an elder, or someone who sees the world differently than you. Borrowing another perspective can be a shortcut to wonder.
You don’t need to tackle the whole list, of course. One tiny experiment will do. Pick whichever invitation makes you think, “Huh…I could do that.”
Then pay attention.
Wonder has a sneaky habit of showing up when we do.
Peace,
Paul