Finding Wonder

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​I just came back from teaching a retreat in Morocco on wonder. It was the perfect setting as the external environment invited innocence and excitement. It also invited us into an introspection of what it means to have wonder in our lives.

The main element of having a sense of wonder in life is to arrive into situations with more questions than answers. When we look at something with expert eyes we rip it from its newness and uniqueness. Yes, we have seen a thousand flowers before, but we have not seen one like the one we are standing in front of, at this moment, with those eyes.

When we have more questions than answers we allow different layers of the "same" experience to unfold. We therefore stop comparing this experience to another saying this is "better" or "worse" than something simillar. The flower we see now is not "less" fragrant than another flower, it just is as beautiful as it is in this moment and we are observing it with the eyes and senses that we have today, and that is completely new.

We also then allow ourselves to fully experience the present moment by ridding ourselves of expectations, judgements and comparisons. When we don't expect the flower to have a certain smell, we are able to enjoy the smell it is offering regardless of how strong or sweet that smell is.

Getting rid of the "expert" mind will also mean that we do not try to make things fit into our already established set of beliefs. Instead of looking at that flower with the eyes that say "this is just a flower that needs water, sunshine and air to live" we look at it with imagination of "I wonder if this flower feels the breeze and it caresses its stem, I wonder if it can taste the nectar within it, I wonder if it feels the stretch of its roots deep into the earth".

May your days be filled with wonder, magic and imagination.

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