Relearning The Sense of Wonder

I have a very young but fabulous teacher in my life these days. Among many things she is teaching me, one of her lessons she is teaching me is to relearn the sense of wonder. I can't tell you how many times we stop along the walk home from school to look at things. There is one yard with a beautiful garden in front of it and we stop there for sometimes ten minutes on the way home looking for ladybugs and enjoying the gardeners work.

Many times over the years she has spent hours creating art installations from things she finds. Once it was a pile of twigs arranged vertically in an old stump. Another day it was a found balloon in a circle of tall weeds on the beach. Some days we collect shells and go on long beach walks. Other days we head to the beach for sunset viewing and deep breathing.

Oftentimes she will engage me in a game of naming all the dogs we can think of or all the birds we can name. She notices things that neither her dad nor I see all the time. It's a great reminder for us to lift our heads up from phone and computer screens, spend more time outside, and see and appreciate the world around us.

As a grown up it can be hard to have patience for a child's sense of wonder. We always have something we want to be doing, need to get to or need to get done. Slowing down and noticing all around us is a skill that seems to die as we get older.

I am so grateful, even when I so want to rush things along, that she is teaching me to to remember my own sense of wonder and appreciation for all around me. The most beautiful things in life require us to slow down to be able to see them and drink them in.

My eyes are open to seeing more detail in photos and movies, noticing small things I tend to gloss over, taking more time to just stop and look around. I have been over the moon about sunsets this week and we have been having some phenomenal ones. We even enjoyed sunset at the beach twice in the past four days. Heavenly. It's a good lesson, you have to sit and wait for the sunset to unfold. You can't have it all at once, you have to sit and drink it in as it constantly changes and then sinks away beneath the waves. Patience is required.

So three cheers for my wonderful professor of wonder! She's such a peach. Love her, love her, love her. Thanks for making me a better woman little lady!