tuesday morning’s daily good, which now that i’m at the ripe, crepey-eyed age of 37, i read first thing, second to my horoscope, which yesterday cautioned me to stop “resisting my own expansion;” advice i will heed the next time i’m wavering between that 4th plate of strawberry shortcake or the future expansion of my pant-size; but jesse prinz’s daily good essay: how wonder works has me well….wondering……
often linked to childhood innocence, wonder is speculated as something we mature out of, like believing in santa, perfecting our cartwheels in the home audio section of TARGET, or checking our daily horoscope.
citing adam smith, who i only vaguely recall as some smarty pants guy they talked about in econ 101, and who i inadvertently always confuse with joseph smith-the founder of the latter-day saints…yep, UC school system, you get what you pay for; jesse gives us ADAM’S definition for wonder as ‘when something quite new and singular is presented… {and} memory cannot, from all its stores, cast up any image that nearly resembles this strange appearance, a distinctive bodily feeling — ‘that staring, and sometimes that rolling of the eyes, that suspension of the breath, and that swelling of the heart’.
is this true for you?
maybe it just comes down to semantics but this description feels more being awestruck; when words, thoughts, and ideas typically fail me i say i was awestruck.
but i’m okay with “wonder.”
what i’m not down with is the idea that wonder occurs only we’re exposed to something new, grand, or unidentifiable.
yes, the first time i espied the canals in venice, on a glorious, sparkly september morning, i wept in wonder at the city of reds, whites, and golds held in place, smack in the middle of the spectacular blue mediterranean sea, and 4 days later speech again failed me, in turkey, as tear-stained muslims physically consumed us americans with their compassion and love, expressing their anguish and support for us as we watched, from across the ocean, our beloved country torn apart by terrorists.
but i also feel wonder in the small, everyday, repetitive gifts in my life:
the sunrise, music, a dance, two hurried strangers, taking the time out of their hurry to help another find his keys in a busy, crowded cafe, and of course strawberry shortcake-these are all moments and experiences when i see the light, feel the big, and that egotistical agnostic within loses yet another match.
so much of my two-step with the sublime occurs in these everyday, tiny, non-hollywood, un-pinterest board moments.
sitting here, sipping my coffee, a snoring beast underfoot, the house lit only with jasmine candles and computer light, i am near speechless in wonder.
my daily goods are just as much self-created. it’s about opening my eyes, feeling more, thinking less…
what makes you wonder?
oh….one more thing…..let’s be friends.
