“Everyday
I see or hear
something
that more or less
kills me
with delight,
that leaves me
like a needle
in the haystack
of light.
It was what I was born for —
to look, to listen,
to lose myself
inside this soft world —
to instruct myself
over and over
in joy,
and acclamation.
Nor am I talking
about the exceptional,
the fearful, the dreadful,
the very extravagant —
but of the ordinary,
the common, the very drab,
the daily presentations.
Oh, good scholar,
I say to myself,
how can you help
but grow wise
with such teachings
as these —
the untrimmable light
of the world,
the ocean’s shine,
the prayers that are made
out of grass?”
~Mary Oliver “Mindful”
“Wonder” is a word that has been coming up for me a lot recently. I have been “wondering” about what will unfold next in my life, as things around and within me keep changing at a rapid pace. Wonder in this context is a particular process of inquiry. Its energy is non-grasping and receptive, very different from worry. Where worry contracts possibility, wonder expands it, As a noun, wonder is the state of openness that we see so often in young children. It is that “wow” that arises out of an innocent gaze, un-clouded by past experience. It is the state of being that sees tiny miracles everywhere, from the jewels of dew in the grass to the fun of one’s shadow dancing alongside.
I have a front-row seat to the energy of wonder via my 4-year-old. She notices things that I have not really paid attention to in years. And she asks really thought-provoking questions out of genuine curiosity. That innocent curiosity is incredibly inspiring and reminds me to pay attention to the magic and possibility woven through the world. It opens me to witness the shining and joyful heart of Divinity at play in all creation, including other human beings. Sikh activist and human rights lawyer Valerie Kaur says, “you don’t have to be religious in order to open to wonder. You only have to reclaim a sliver of what you once knew as a child. If you remember how to wonder, then you already have what you need to learn how to love.”
And what is Love but the connective tissue of the universe?
I wonder if cultivating “wonder” could be a powerful antidote to the anxiety and contraction we may be experiencing at this time in our collective journey? I wonder if more “wonder “ could help us expand the art of the possible? Could it be a catalyst for the reclamation of our belonging in the net of creation? Could it spark more curiosity and tenderness along with a desire to serve every living being that is part of that web?
Please join us in the spirit of curiosity, openness, and awe as we dive through the mirror of “WONDER” this month.
All Love.
Jo