It is easy to forget about the inherent beauty of the world – the magnificence of everyday moments.
Wonder is ever present all around us. If we could just change our perspective we can begin to view the world with a sense of awe and mystery. We look at things with a with childlike joy and excitement.
If only we were a bit more present we would open ourselves up to the beauty of the world around us.
Below is a poem I wrote about the experience of wonder, originally published on my blog A Life of Virtue.
If there is anything that I feel that I need to preserve as I grow old, it is wonder The ability to find awe in the mundane, the seemingly bleak trenches of everyday existence How is it that a child is to able to see the sublime in the routine? To look at the ordinary and see what is extraordinary To paint the world with their vivid imagination To have boundless curiosity radiate through their being During a walk on a cool summer morning, my attention is suspended by the rising sun piercing through the hazy clouds Wonder emerges as I see the birds gliding through the sky, singing ecstatically Soaring effortlessly into the horizon, they find reprieve in the towering trees Riches, wealth and power all pale in comparison to the awe and bliss found in Nature As I shed the veil of adulthood, I see the world once again as a child A world of wonder A world of infinite possibility
Where do you find awe or wonder? Do you revel in curiosity about the mysteries of everyday experience? Perhaps you have had experience in nature or on a trip that shifted your outlook or perspective in life.
Let me know if the comments.
Source Image: Pexels Free Photos
Thank you, Andrew, for sharing this wonderful post! 🙏
Thanks for this poem. I very much needed to read this today! Feel better now 🙏
The starry night sky always amazes me, as does the beauty, power and vastness of the ocean.
Wonderful 💙
If you see beauty literally everywhere, then beauty begins to lose its meaning. Just as time loses its preciousness if we all lived forever and cash money is of little value to the super-rich. To a rock star surrounded by groupies, beautiful women become interchangeable. One inevitably becomes jaded.
That is why you don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone.
To really enjoy beauty, it has to be uncommon enough to take notice of, yet not so common that one becomes blase’ about it. When I grew up in Michigan I took the beauty of farms and fields and forests and rivers and lakes for granted. You have to intentionally stop and take notice of such things or you lose awareness of it At the same time, you can’t stay in awe of everything around you all the time or you cease to function. There is also the matter that you can only see the ocean for the first time once.
The world is not always a beautiful place. The mundane is what lends meaning to both beauty and ugliness.
Walking on the coast or in nature usually takes me out of brain fatigue and endless thinking. Being alone when walking enables the oneness with my surroundings as I’m able to engage freely and directly with that which surrounds me. But there is the other side … how to understand the peace and wonder that surrounds me compared to the turmoil over the road …. eg. in Ukraine.
Makes it even more devastating in a way … how to understand such evil after experiencing the sublime.
Is it a coincidence that I originally titled my blog, published today also, “WONDER”?
In my notes I wrote wonderful = full of wonder. It causes me to gaze, drink-in the beauty, admire, appreciate, and a result – be more thankful.
Thank you for a beautiful post.
Unfortunately, as I look at some of my granddaughter’s friends, I’m seeing how rapidly that sense of wonder can disappear.
Great post, great poem. I also find wonder in nature and its unspoken laws, but also in knowledge. Everytime I learn something new, especially when I can use the languages I know to learn and read from different sources, I feel what we call wonder.
Great poem and post.
In everything is my answer. We just need to open our eyes.
I find wonder in nature