Experience Wonder: How Awe Can Change Your Life For The Better

Living life with a sense of wonder adds more depth and vibrancy into our daily lives. We can recapture our child-like sense of awe by removing our skepticism and developing rituals that boost our imagination. Learn five ways to experience wonder and bring more magic into your world. (Estimated reading time: 5 minutes)

If you’ve read accounts of what everyday life was like in ancient civilizations, you’ll get the impression that most people (apart from the privileged) lived in a constant state of chaos and squalor.

The living conditions were poor and so were the hygienic standards. Despite these dire living conditions, the natives managed to maintain an unwavering sense of idealism and hope.

Just visit any monument of history, such as the Pyramids of Giza, Stonehenge, or one of the many rustic churches or castles scattered all over Europe, and you’ll be convinced of the ancient’s yearning for beauty, and a passion for myth, folklore and fantasy.

For them, material things and nature were alive with magic and possessed a kind of spiritual essence to which they felt connected. A sense of enchantment and wonder permeated every aspect of their life.

Ever since scientific reasoning advanced in our global society, we’ve become increasingly rational. Along the path of progress, we lost our connection to a deeper and more profound realm of existence.

Technology has made life convenient but it’s eroded our sense of awe and ability to experience wonder. We have become accustomed to living a boxed-in and routine existence that deprives us of experiencing the splendor that lies beyond the walls.

Children, on the other hand, live in a perpetual state of awe, because they see the world with openness and innocence. They revel in the novelty of every experience and see it as an opportunity for fun.

We see a vivid depiction of this in a scene from the movie Hook, where Robin Williams, who plays a grown-up version of Peter Pan, returns to Neverland after many years of living as an adult on Earth.

In this scene, he sits at a large banquet table with the Lost Boys, waiting for their food to arrive. When it does, he is bewildered as he watches the boys dig into an elaborate spread of invisible, delectable treats.

The boys remind him that he has to use his imagination to see and eat the food. After several failed attempts, he finally succeeds to reawaken his child-like spirit. The boys congratulate him with elation by saying, “You’re doing it Peter – you’re using your imagination.”

The story of Hook exemplifies the importance of connecting to our inner child. The world is full of wonder and majesty but we have to train ourselves to be able to acknowledge it.

We do this by slowing down, living moment-to-moment, and becoming curious about what’s out there – just as kids do.

When you give yourself permission to revel in a state of awe, your life will go from black and white to Technicolor. There will be a vitality and vibrancy that permeates your existence.

Your creative prowess will get magnified as you begin finding more purpose and joy in your daily activities. Every object, creature and person will vibrate with an aliveness and primal force.

Fostering a state of wonder is something that can be cultivated within you, but it may require a shift in your thoughts and lifestyle. 

Here are some simple measures that you can take to experience wonder in your life:

1. Adopt a beginner’s mindset: There’s a belief in Zen Buddhism that states that in the beginner’s mind, there are many possibilities, but in the expert’s, there are only a few. When we view life from a beginner’s perspective, we are curious and receptive to new ideas. When we break out of our limitations and mental ruts, we open up a doorway within our mind, through which magic can enter. Attempt a new way of doings things or challenge yourself by trying out new activities such as dance classes, cooking a new dish, or even exploring a different route to work.

2. Spend more time in nature: Native Americans have always had a deep respect for nature. They believe that if a man spends too much time away from nature, his heart grows hard. They recognize the splendor in the natural scenery that surrounds us, such as the beautiful night sky with stars that sparkle like diamonds, all the unique kinds of animals and plants that populate the Earth, and the magnificent landscapes that take your breath away. Make a point to spend time during your week in a natural setting, be it a garden, park, beach or the woods.

3. Engage in the arts: Art is undoubtedly one of the best gateways to experiencing depth. If you’ve ever listened to a melodious tune, witnessed a masterpiece painting, or watched a performance that enchanted you, you’ve had the opportunity to enter this state. Regularly engage in art forms that appeal to your sensibilities. You can also involve yourself in a creative endeavors such as writing, singing and dancing – anything that helps you experience wonder.

4. Make time for rest and reflection: A perpetually busy and preoccupied mind will not be able to pick up on the subtleties in your surroundings. An individual with a frazzled nervous system does not have the capacity to see magic. This necessitates the need for us to take regular breaks amidst the busyness of our lives. We need to carve out time for activities that calm us down, such as meditation, yoga, easy reading, deep breathing, or some internal reflection within a quiet space.

5. Be open to seeing magic: Most of us have become rational thinkers because of all the conditioning that we’ve been through over the years. For this reason, we need to re-train our minds to get comfortable with dealing with the ambiguous and ethereal. Most people are able to do this by adopting a spiritual bend of mind, either through formal religion or through their own personal philosophies. A spiritual thought process and philosophy will enable you to see the big picture, suspend your disbelief, and give you the insight to look beyond your material existence.

Astronomer and astrophysicist Carl Sagan once said that the only way for small creatures such as ourselves to appreciate the vastness of the Universe is through love. Love is ultimately at the heart of everything that exists in the Universe. It’s a reverberating cosmic force which all of us can soak in, if we choose to do so.

All my best on your journey,

Seline

Question for you: How can you experience more wonder in your life? What kind of activities will help you enter this state of mind?

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