Just a few days ago, one of my oldest and dearest friends shared a quote with me from 17th century French philosopher, Descartes.
The quote was this:
'Wonder is the first of all the passions.'
This really sparked my imagination and got me thinking about the importance of wonder in our lives.
When we feel wonder, we are filled with a deep, open-minded, unselfish sense of admiration .
We don't judge the value of the thing that makes us feel wonder, we just appreciate it for what it is.
We almost become absorbed into the object of our wonder.
Wonder, too, I believe, taps into our curiosity and helps us to learn new things, imprinting new knowledge on our heart, mind, body and soul.
One of the ways
that I have always experienced the emotion of wonder
is by looking up at the night sky.
The feeling of awe, wonder and curiosity about what I am looking at and why I am here has always been very strong - even leading me, as a little girl, to want to sail into the stars and become an astronaut.
Becoming an astronaut, alas, was not my destiny - but an appreciation of wonder has never left me.
So much of the natural world, like sunsets and the sea, is spellbinding.
When we gaze out at the horizon line, we wonder about where we are standing, where we might go, and what might be brought in to us on the tide.
Wonder is nature's tool to pique our curiosity and make us think, and the more that we open our senses, learn and ask questions, the more wonder we will feel.
When it comes to creativity,
creating opportunities and experiences
that invite wonder
are one of the best ways
to fill up our reservoir of ideas and possibilities.
It could be as simple as visiting somewhere new, or reading a book I wouldn't normally pick up, or speaking to someone I've never met before.
Seeking out the new helps us to see the old in a fresh and wonder-full light.
There is something in the human psyche too, that loves a mystery and the unknown - and without wonder, nothing would ever happen.
There would be no forward-movement or progress.
Wonder makes us eager to learn,
and even Socrates said,
'Wisdom begins in wonder.'
I'm very grateful for a sense of wonder, and like so many of us, frequently feel connected to it when I am out in nature.
But one of the things I think we can so often do is to only look outside of ourselves for the sources of wonder, but we forget to look at ourselves with wonder.
This is not meant to be egocentric, but rather a reminder to us all that we are a part of this universe of wonder.
I believe in living our dreams and looking at life with wonder - but I believe in doing it NOW, in this moment, and finding simple ways to live our passions and feel wonder Here, in the present.
We don't have to monetise our passions and create a career from them in order to 'live the dream'.
Living our dreams is not about success or bank balance.
It doesn't mean, either, putting our head in the clouds and living for an imagined future.
It means asking yourself,
'What do I love to do?' and doing it,
for the simple reason that you love to do it.
What can you see around you now to wonder at?
When we look at life with wonder, we grow and energise ourselves - and as we grow and learn and re-energise, our sense of wonder increases.
When we are living creatively, we are creating a sense of wonder, and I believe we will enrich our art and our life by tapping more often into states of wonder.
Many people may think that there is something wild-eyed and childish about wonder but, as Dr Wayne Dyer once said,
'To be more childlike, you don't have to give up being an adult.
The fully integrated person is capable of being both an adult and a child simultaneously.'
(https://www.drwaynedyer.com/blog/its-good-to-be-a-kid/)
When we view life with a playful spirit, without proclaiming to know all the answers and without needing to be perfect, we will be able to clear the path to create, to go on an adventure not knowing where we'll end up.
Feeling butterflies in the stomach, too,
can be a sign
that we're about to do something wonder-full.
