On Wonder’s Insistence
Metadata
Highlights
- We need reminders of wonder. In a 1994 interview, Fred Rogers, better known as Mr. Rogers, noted “I’m very concerned that our society is much more interested in information, than wonder.”
- Note: what does it look like for the internet to be about wonder rather than about information?
What if you could take little sensory walks on the internet?
- Beyond the internet, capitalism as a system and culture waves off awe, magic, and mystery as a distraction. I notice these entanglements in times when I feel stagnant, cynical, or stuck in an unbreakable rut. In this clouded space, I reach towards numbing over feeling, and my attention shrinks the world into something small, mundane, and unsurprising. In this headspace I’m moving too fast, too dislodged, to notice gifts of wonder huddled at my feet.So we’re offered a question: When so much is pulling us towards urgency and exhaustion, how do we turn our attention towards wonder?
- In her book “War Talk,” author Arundhati Roy offers the beautiful note, “Another world is not only possible, she is on her way. On a quiet day, I can hear her breathing.” I best reach the “quiet days,” by practicing deep listening. Listening to the gravitational energy I carry into a room, listening to my body - the way love feels in my chest, how my shoulders carry inspiration. Listening for possibilities rather than limitations. When I place myself in a position of listening, I’m reminded: “Oh yes, I don’t know everything about the world. Oh yes, another way is possible. Oh yes, perhaps the universe’s default is tenderness.”
- When wonder feels too far for me to access, I find I can start walking towards it by remembering what inspires me. I ask myself the questions: What experiences light me up? What sparked my curiosity as a kid? What ignites my sense of pleasure? What does excitement feel like in my body?
- a note by poet Osho: “I don’t think existence wants you to be serious. I have not seen a serious tree. I have not seen a serious bird. I have not seen a serious sunrise. I have not seen a serious starry night. It seems they are all laughing in their own ways. Dancing in their own ways. We may not understand it, but there is a subtle feeling that the whole existence is a celebration.”
On Wonder’s Insistence
Metadata
Highlights
- We need reminders of wonder. In a 1994 interview, Fred Rogers, better known as Mr. Rogers, noted “I’m very concerned that our society is much more interested in information, than wonder.”
- Note: what does it look like for the internet to be about wonder rather than about information?
What if you could take little sensory walks on the internet?
- Beyond the internet, capitalism as a system and culture waves off awe, magic, and mystery as a distraction. I notice these entanglements in times when I feel stagnant, cynical, or stuck in an unbreakable rut. In this clouded space, I reach towards numbing over feeling, and my attention shrinks the world into something small, mundane, and unsurprising. In this headspace I’m moving too fast, too dislodged, to notice gifts of wonder huddled at my feet.So we’re offered a question: When so much is pulling us towards urgency and exhaustion, how do we turn our attention towards wonder?
- In her book “War Talk,” author Arundhati Roy offers the beautiful note, “Another world is not only possible, she is on her way. On a quiet day, I can hear her breathing.” I best reach the “quiet days,” by practicing deep listening. Listening to the gravitational energy I carry into a room, listening to my body - the way love feels in my chest, how my shoulders carry inspiration. Listening for possibilities rather than limitations. When I place myself in a position of listening, I’m reminded: “Oh yes, I don’t know everything about the world. Oh yes, another way is possible. Oh yes, perhaps the universe’s default is tenderness.”
- When wonder feels too far for me to access, I find I can start walking towards it by remembering what inspires me. I ask myself the questions: What experiences light me up? What sparked my curiosity as a kid? What ignites my sense of pleasure? What does excitement feel like in my body?
- a note by poet Osho: “I don’t think existence wants you to be serious. I have not seen a serious tree. I have not seen a serious bird. I have not seen a serious sunrise. I have not seen a serious starry night. It seems they are all laughing in their own ways. Dancing in their own ways. We may not understand it, but there is a subtle feeling that the whole existence is a celebration.”