Prompt: Wonder. How did you cultivate a sense of wonder in your life this year?
Hmmm…not what I wondered about, but how did I cultivate a sense of wonder. When I read what we have learned about our planetary neighbors, I have a sense of wonder. When I go hiking in the foothills and I see acorns sprouting on a bush or the footprints of a deer hoof in the mud, I have a sense of wonder. When I see a glorious picture of a cave encrusted in basalt crystals, I have a sense of wonder. When I see the brilliant hues of a sunset, I have a sense of wonder. There are some things that particularly touch me in this existence, and when I present myself to being touched by them again I am back in that moment of wonder. This requires my knowing what speaks to me in that way (the physical/natural world around me) and then creating time for this interface to happen (reading, listening or getting out into the natural world).
The daily grind is a killer of this most childlike and innocent of places. I seem to stumble on these places by accident while on the path of my day. I forget about them until I find them again. Perhaps this is the purpose of the “artist dates” in Cameron’s The Artist’s Way (1992). This may also be why it is important to go on these dates alone, so that you do not have anything keeping you from interacting with that source of wonder.
This sense of wonder is what feeds the things I do with my life. I cannot teach my daughter or my students about the world around them, share my passion, without this feeling of wonder. I cannot enjoy the beauty of the world with my husband without this sense of wonder. I will have to make a commitment in 2011 to make these moments happen much more regularly.
First of all, thank you so much for the kind words you left on my blog. I am glowing. Knowing that my words touched someone made them worth the pain of writing them (the B'Orange story).
ReplyDeleteYour words touched me as well. I sometimes forget about the wonder of nature, especially in this cold season in the desert. Thanks for reminding me to look to what nourishes me, so that I may be nourished more often.