Everyday Wonder

Our seed of awakening for January at Awakening Ways Spiritual Community is Wonder. It’s the first of our 12-month journey through 2022 of Living Everyday Wonder.

Too often, we save our experience of wonder for rare occasions, when if we look around and take notice, we will find the wonder in all things ordinary. French novelist Marcel Proust observed: “The real voyage of discovery consists of not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes.” This quote is appropriate for us as we use new glasses with lenses of wonder and experience it regularly.

As we learn to live in wonder, we find awe in the ordinary things of our daily lives. Below I have used the five senses to illustrate examples as a simple way to incorporate wonder into your everyday life.

I find wonder at that holy and sacred moment of my first sip of coffee in the morning. I also revel in the Divine splendor of the heavenly aroma of a fresh bag of coffee beans opened for the first time. The connection felt when holding the hand of someone near and dear to me. Then there’s the sweet musical sound of my beloved speaking or singing or the sound of a parent’s or child’s voice. Lastly, there’s that way we connect with the eternal as we experience the beauty of a baby or our significant others, or art, and so much more.

The Greek philosopher Socrates observed: “Wonder is the beginning of wisdom.” Our curiosity in knowing and learning new things causes us to question things we already know and accept, causing us to seek truth and attain wisdom.

How magnificent is it that we can see the world around us with the eyes of wonder, and we can also explore our inner world with the eyes of wonder? We are gentle with ourselves as we investigate thought patterns and beliefs that no longer serve us.

Seeing with the eyes of wonder is like looking through a window to the eternal, which captivates the soul. It pulls us in, and as we connect with the eternal presence of the Divine, we begin to walk a new path of gratitude for the simplicity of being alive.

When I contemplate everyday wonder, I can’t help but imagine ice cream cones, airplanes, clothes, and computers, to name a few. Have you considered the wonder of planes when you are about to take off on a trip to your favorite tropical island? Or the awe of sitting at a computer or using your phone to communicate via email to another instantly?

There is so much of this Divine creation for us to be amazed and awed. So let us begin on this glorious day to see, appreciate, and bless the everyday magnificence we experience, from paper clips to pillows, clouds, clothes, people, and everything in between.

Something wonderful is happening here, wherever you find yourself in every moment.

And so it is.