The word wonder comes from the Old English wundrian, which means "admire, or make wonderful."
It seems to me that people so often trivialize wonder. It's a child's emotion, meaningless in today's world of constant, boring newness. Who has time to waste on being amazed?
Wonder is beautiful. It makes things beautiful. To wonder is literally to make something wonderful. The world is dark, and we are so small, and there is so much chaos. Wonder may seem childish, but it takes a certain kind of bravery to "hold life like a face/ between your palms, a plain face... [and] say, yes, I will take you/ I will love you." (Ellen Bass). Wonder is the thing that opens the cage of your ribs and lets your heart breathe.
I'm a pretty distractable person. I'll cut off the conversation to make sure you see the pink of the sunset. I'll squeal when I see a dog or cat. I'll stop to stare at a flower for a longer time than is probably necessary. I'm easily amused. And I actually really like this about myself. Even though I've gone through some things, even though I have depression/anxiety, I still hang on to that wonder at how beautiful the world can be.
This wonderment is a way of life. It's not always natural. Sometimes you have to force yourself to stop, to breathe, to notice how the air smells or how the sky looks or the way you can feel your heartbeat if you're still enough.
Wonder is not just for kids. Yes, it's how kids learn about the world, but we don't have to ever stop learning. The world doesn't get boring once we grow up. Heck, it gets bigger. Just because we see the darkness doesn't mean we should look away from the light.
Keep those wide, violet eyes, those open-mouthed gazes, those surprised smiles and simple pleasures. We all grow up far too much than we need to, let's have the faith of children for a little longer.
It seems to me that people so often trivialize wonder. It's a child's emotion, meaningless in today's world of constant, boring newness. Who has time to waste on being amazed?
Wonder is beautiful. It makes things beautiful. To wonder is literally to make something wonderful. The world is dark, and we are so small, and there is so much chaos. Wonder may seem childish, but it takes a certain kind of bravery to "hold life like a face/ between your palms, a plain face... [and] say, yes, I will take you/ I will love you." (Ellen Bass). Wonder is the thing that opens the cage of your ribs and lets your heart breathe.
I'm a pretty distractable person. I'll cut off the conversation to make sure you see the pink of the sunset. I'll squeal when I see a dog or cat. I'll stop to stare at a flower for a longer time than is probably necessary. I'm easily amused. And I actually really like this about myself. Even though I've gone through some things, even though I have depression/anxiety, I still hang on to that wonder at how beautiful the world can be.
This wonderment is a way of life. It's not always natural. Sometimes you have to force yourself to stop, to breathe, to notice how the air smells or how the sky looks or the way you can feel your heartbeat if you're still enough.
Wonder is not just for kids. Yes, it's how kids learn about the world, but we don't have to ever stop learning. The world doesn't get boring once we grow up. Heck, it gets bigger. Just because we see the darkness doesn't mean we should look away from the light.
Keep those wide, violet eyes, those open-mouthed gazes, those surprised smiles and simple pleasures. We all grow up far too much than we need to, let's have the faith of children for a little longer.
