By Claire Sullivan
“There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.”
Beep… beep… beep! Cracking my eyes open, I turn to my side and shut my alarm off. Half asleep with three brain cells working, I somehow find the motivation to sit up and get out of bed. Slowly waking up, I get ready for the day, eat a quick breakfast, and dash off to school. I sit in class, take notes, talk to some classmates, and repeat the process for a few hours. Then my glorious lunch break occurs where I get a full 45 minutes to eat and get caught up on some more work. Finally, I finish my day by working on tedious assignments and projects, exercising (on a really good day), eating some dinner, and then doing more work until I go to bed and repeat the process the next day.
Does anyone else feel they have a similar schedule? The same basic routine day after day, which then turns to month after month, and year after year. There’s some comfort in this kind of routine – nothing crazy or new to throw you off course. However, do you ever wish there could be more excitement, connection, or creativity thrown into this mundane routine? Although circumstances may not change, there is a way to turn the ordinary into something extraordinary.
Wonder, also known as the central feature of the human spirit, is a heightened state of consciousness and emotion brought about by something unexpected (Konner, 2002). Wonder is the launching pad for creativity, resilience, and connection. It can be experienced as a joy-filled amazement at life and allows one to receive uncertainty with openness (Davis, 2021). This splendor that unexpectedly prompts you to take charge of the next beautiful phase of life has the potential to overcome barriers, and finesse challenges in pursuit of one’s aims (Davis, 2021). One of the qualities of wonder, compared to awe, is that it can sneak into the creases and cracks of everyday life.
“Wonder is the first of all the passions” – René Descartes
In today’s world, it seems that everyone is consumed with work, meeting deadlines, running errands, commuting, sitting in traffic, or waiting in line. Add to that the amount of time spent in front of screens. Not to mention the amount of time spent mentally elsewhere – worrying, ruminating, planning, or dwelling on things – and not living in the present moment. Society oftentimes glorifies the “workaholic” lifestyle, always being busy and working on something. However, how beneficial is this busy, monotonous lifestyle? Society has seen a general decrease in live-event attendance, a decrease in funding within schools for both music and the arts, a decrease in time spent outdoors in nature, a decrease in attention spans, an increase in materialism, and a decrease in connection than in prior generations (Paquette, 2020). Luckily, all is not lost with these changes in our wonder-deprived society. The unique capacity to experience wonder is one of our defining traits as human beings and is something that enabled our survival and endurance as a species (Paquette, 2020). Experiencing wonder is something that can be natural if you open your mind to it.
There are many benefits to experiencing wonder. Some of the main findings suggest that wonder provides a launchpad for creativity, resilience, and connection (Davis, 2021). Also, wonder appears to increase life satisfaction, reduce stress levels, make people less materialistic, make people more humble, and give people an expanded sense of time (Joye, Y. & Bolderdijk, J. W., 2015; Paquette, 2020). All these benefits can help you to become more grounded in your everyday life and enjoy the world’s magnificence – even in things that to the naked eye can be confused as irrelevant or unimportant.
“Wonder is a portal of consciousness that lets us see again what is beautiful and real, true and possible.”
– Jeffery Davis
There are many ways to incorporate more wonder into your everyday life, but an easy way is to explore one of the facets of wonder: openness. Being open to life’s mysteries and new possibilities can be correlated with creativity. A renowned psychologist with revolutionary findings on flow noted that creative people tend to be smart and naïve at the same time (Csikszentmihalyi, 1996). Csikszentmihalyi found that intellectual intelligence beyond a base-level competency neither correlates with high creative output nor with a fulfilled life. So, to live a fulfilled life, you do not have to be the most intelligent or the best at something; rather, you just need to be open to new experiences and embrace the naiveness in you. The German poet Goethe once wrote that “naiveté is the most important attribute for genius.” This idea can help us to remember that there is an inner force of genius within everyone. Thus, your openness to experiences can be a greater predictor of your ability to find creative solutions to problems than intellect (Davis, 2021). Now that we’ve discussed the usefulness behind the facet of openness, here are some practices to help you experience wonder in your daily life.
1. Visit a New Place at Least Once a Month
If you find yourself in a rut with your daily routine, this may be just the thing for you. Whether it is as simple as eating at a new restaurant, visiting a lesser-known art gallery, going to a different farmers market, etc., these new places can help open your eyes to new ways of doing things you are already familiar with. Visiting a new town every other weekend can also help in this endeavor. Getting a sense of the people from other places and finding cool new destinations can help bring some spark back into your life. When I did this growing up, I discovered that there are dozens of “Californias,” not just one monoculture prone to a certain stereotype. See what you can find within an hour drive of your home.
2. Pursue a Hobby as an Amateur
The word amateur comes from the Latin word amatore, which can translate to “lover.” There seems to be a negative connotation related to being an amateur these days but being an amateur simply means someone has an unbridled enthusiasm for something (Davis, 2021). If you are interested in certain activities, there are plenty of organizations for amateurs. You can even do these things with friends, such as joining an organization for amateur musicians, bakers, photographers, astronomers, and much more. Participating in something that is interesting to you, at the same level of others who have similar interests, can help in learning a new skill, stretching your mind, and having more satisfaction. These types of small wins can help build confidence for achieving bigger goals, and wonder can accompany the process.
3. Tap Into Your Inner Child
Try to look at everyday aspects as you would when you were seven years old. What was exciting to you at that age that may have lost its spark now? The most ordinary things can be turned into something wonderful. A cloud may look like an elephant, someone’s umbrella looks like a question mark, or maybe the stars in the sky twinkling seem like angels are winking at you. How incredible the taste of homemade ice-cream is, or how crazy that the leaves change colors in the fall. Whatever it may be, seeing things with fresh eyes, like you did as a kid, can help you experience more wonder and build on seeing new possibilities that were not there before.
4. Find a Horizon
When you feel constrained or in need of a more open perspective, you can literally use your eyesight to find inspiration. A simple way to do this is by finding a horizon spot where you can gain a big visual expanse. Find a place that is easy to access, helps you feel open, elevated, and positive. Whether this looks like climbing on your roof (in a safe way), hiking to the summit of a mountain, going to the beach, etc., these places can help you have a new perspective. If you can stand or sit in a position that is grounding, with no distractions, just try to scan your surroundings and feel its presence. Allow yourself to acknowledge your life, be grateful for what is there, and simply dream. What future horizons would you like to engage in or conquer? Remind yourself that when fears or doubts surface to simply dream and imagine. The world is your oyster, and your potential is limitless.
“Look at everything always as though you were seeing it either for the first or last time: Thus is your time on earth filled with glory”
References
Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1996). Creativity: Flow and the psychology of discovery and invention. Harper Perennial.
Davis, J. (2021). Tracking wonder: Reclaiming a life of meaning and possibility in a world obsessed with productivity. Sounds True.
Joye, Y. & Bolderdijk, J. W. (2015). An exploratory study into the effects of extraordinary nature on emotions, mood, and prosociality. Frontiers in Psychology, 5, 1577. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2014.01577
Konner, M. (2002). The tangled wing: Biological constraints on the human spirit. Henry Holt.
Paquette, J. (2020). Awestruck: How embracing wonder can make you happier, healthier, and more connected. Shambhala Publications.