As a functional adult these days, it’s really easy to lose your sense of wonder. 

Why does that matter? And why should you care?

When you lose the wonder, your world becomes flat. Boring sets in. A boundary between yourself and everything else begins to form. It just ain’t cool.

Wonder is a state of being where there’s deep appreciation, play, curiosity and perhaps even a hint of magic. It’s where you want to be as a creative. And as a human.

If you’ve ever watched a little kid run around you’ll see wonder in action. They live in their imagination. They play with the world. It doesn’t really matter if it’s a oversized pillow, an electric toothbrush or their left foot. When we’re young, all is new, fresh, exciting. Kids automatically live in a world of wonder. So cool.

As we get older we tend to organize everything in our minds. That’s a chair! When people smile at me it means they’re friendly (or trying to sell me something)! Turnips are kind of disgusting!

Our brains have evolved to do this because it helps us become efficient and survive on this this crazy planet. It’s a smart move. But there is a cost.

The cost it that the wonder tends to die. And when the wonder dies, we get smaller. Eventually we don’t even look for the beauty, the miracles and the connections in the world.

When was the last time you considered how that email showed up on your phone? Are you freaking kidding me? That one is a miracle of wonder. Dip into the wonder, ask questions about how many people contributed to the cell technology, the infrastructure, the battery, that tiny little screen. F*ing miracle.

How about looking for beauty? Sure, it’s in the art gallery and the museum. But guess what? It’s everywhere. As a photographer, I’m constantly on the lookout for shapes, repetition of form, textures, shadows. It’s easy to slip into the beauty of wonder if you try.

And what about the wonder of other people? If you dare to go on a mission to meet an amazing stranger, and ask them question after question about their stories, their ideas, their reality— you’ll be shaken by wonder. How different their life has been. And how you share so many similarities without even knowing it. 

Wonder is drug. Except it healthy, free and critical to living a life of meaning, growth and transformation.

Become wonderful. 

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Where do you find wonder?