If I had influence with the good fairy who is
supposed to preside over the christening of all
children, I should ask that her gift to each child
in the world be a sense of wonder so indestructible
that it would last throughout life, as an unfailing
antidote against the boredom and disenchantments
of later years, and the sterile preoccupation with
things that are artificial, the alienation  from
the sources of our strength.

Rachel Carson, The Sense of Wonder
   
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I having been taking this marvelous class called People Are Inquisitive.  The premise of the course is that wonder, curiosity and inquiry are the source of all learning.  Well, I have to admit that when I first signed up for this course, I wasn't sure that the content would keep my attention for the full four weeks.  Alas, I was wrong, as I often am (oh yes, this is true!), and I have been delighted at rediscovering my sense of wonder!  It brings such a "lightness" into conversations!

Have you ever been around a toddler?  They have SO MUCH to ask about and learn!   They talk on and on with incessant questions about why things are the way they are.   Many a parent or teacher have become exasperated (and amused!) at a child's sense of wonder.  And yet, it is by asking and being curious that we learn the most.   We can experience life so fully when we recall what it is like to just be free and wonder about anything and everything.

Here are just some things I have been wondering about lately.  I wonder:

. . . who my children are becoming?
. . . how God decided what colors to use in the rainbow?
. . . what it would really be like to win the lottery?
. . . how ants carry so darn much?
. . . what it would be like to be an artist in Paris?
. . . where the wind goes?
. . . what it would be like to be a big, fluffy, fat house cat?
. . . what life is like from a wheelchair?
. . . what it would be like to take a year off and travel the world?
. . . what my future grandchildren (and great grandchildren) will look like?
. . . what it would be like to be six inches taller?
. . . where I will live when I retire?
. . . when I will take a hot air balloon ride and how it will feel?
. . . what it would feel like to be a leaf that turns colors and fall off the tree?
. . . what bees do for fun?  sting people?  dip into the honey all day long?
. . . who is reading this article now and what is life like for that person?

As you can see, when we allow ourselves to open up to a sense of wonder, we grow and generate more interest in others and in our world.  This allows for fresh, creative space and for closer relationships.  A sense of wonder initiates exploratory conversations, where authentic communication begins.  With wonder and curiosity as the foundation for a conversation, we allow ourselves the freedom of just staying present with the other person and simply "being."  Wonder honors our intuition and produces heart-to-heart communication.

It's been said that to wonder is to begin to understand.  Wonder most definitely creates possibilities!  Where's your sense of wonder?  Have you gotten so bogged down in the minute-to minute "stuff" that  life has become dull? Bring forth your curious, creative, sense of wonder  and dust if off -- lighten up and wonder about everything!  We are all amazing and awesome beings and our world is extraordinary even when days may be dark.  A sense of wonder reminds of just how vast the unknown is and how much we have to learn each day.  That's great news!

They say that every snowflake is different. If that were true, how could the world go on? How could we ever get up off our knees? How could we ever recover from the wonder of it?    ~  Jeanette Winterson

There are no such things as limits to growth, because there are no limits on the human capacity for intelligence, imagination and wonder.  ~  Ronald Reagan

What is it that you wonder about?  Take a notebook and begin to write all the things you wonder about.  You may want to label these, "Questions for God", knowing that you may never know the answers in this lifetime.  Notice when you do this though, how LIGHT and fun it becomes to just allow the wonder to bubble up within and come out.  List 100 things that you wonder about and you may just find yourself walking on air!

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My Wish for You

I wish each of you a world of wonder, possibilities, and warm memories.

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