Find Wonder Through Opening Your Eyes & Heart

The Oxford Dictionary defines wonder as “a feeling of surprise and admiration that you have when you see or experience something beautiful, unusual, or unexpected.” One of the gifts of being a mom is the opportunity to experience the profound sense of wonder through your child’s eyes. It’s no surprise the expression “childlike sense of wonder” is so common. Often at some point in life many people sadly lose this important trait.

This week my daughter and I stopped by the Naughty Cat Cafe in St. Elmo. If you haven’t been to the Naughty Cat Cafe, I encourage you to put it on your Chattanooga Bucket List. For a donation of $15 you get a cup of hot tea to warm your belly, jazz music to soothe your soul and at least 30 adoptable cats to play and cuddle with in their beautifully decorated lounge spaces. I have previously been to the cat cafe, but they were closed the day my daughter and I stopped by and since they don’t allow visitors under age 11, we went to their window and watched about 20 cats of different colors, breeds and sizes napping, playing and eating. As I witnessed my daughter experience the joy of the cats, I felt a sense of wonder with her. It was one of those sacred moments when I sensed joy in my heart and tuned into the present moment. As a mom, it is often the simple moments of walking, dancing or singing with Isabelle when I experience speechless or tearful moments of wonder and awe. As Isabelle and I observed the cats through the window, I stood transfixed in one of those unexpected and awe-filled moments of life.

Albert Einstein once said, “The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science. He to whom the emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand wrapped in awe, is as good as dead —his eyes are closed.” I think it is important that Einstein calls wonder an emotion. I believe wonder is something you experience because you are open in your heart space, but also because you are mindful to pay attention to the present moment. Einstein says when you aren’t experiencing the gift of wonder, your eyes are closed. How do you keep your eyes, heart and spirit open, so you can be in a heightened state of consciousness and tune into awe and wonder?

In my own life, mindfulness is one practice that helps me to be intentional to not miss the holy moments of life. To experience wonder and awe, you must try to live in a way in which you pay more attention to the gift of the here and now. When I experience wonder I sometimes have chills or tears, and so I must cultivate an open heart space to experience this emotion. Practices in my life that keep my spirit and heart open include embodied movement like yoga or dance, playing with my daughter, spiritual books, writing, walks in nature, silence, breathing, music, therapy, poetry and worship.

One naturalistic study that invited research participants to take in an awe-inspiring view, found the participants reported reduced levels of daily stress. Another study found that experiences of awe improve immune function by decreasing cytokines in your body. So you might experience wonder and awe when you least expect it, but you also might seek out these experiences. Either way, these moments of awe will likely reduce stress and improve your immune function. But you don’t have to see a view from Sunset Rock or Signal Point to experience wonder. Mary Oliver’s poem, Mindful, says you can tap into wonder in your everyday ordinary life. She says, “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.”

Children seem to connect almost effortlessly with their sense of wonder. When my daughter and I go to the zoo, park or aquarium, Isabelle seems to have a sense of delight in her surroundings that comes naturally. I have to be more intentional to experience the gift of wonder, but I have noticed spending time with my 2 year old daughter is helping me reconnect with a reverence for everyday moments of awe.

When I was a student at Emory and Henry College, I did not always appreciate the majesty of the mountains of Southwest Virginia. Now when I go back to visit my alma mater I try to take in the vastness of rolling green rocky hills. I am also diligently trying to be more mindful not to take the beauty of the Chattanooga area for granted. The first time I drove up Lookout Mountain and noticed its nickname Fairyland, the area really was so enchanting with its green woodland trees and natural boulders that it felt like I was transported to a magical place. I hope to never take for granted the beauty of this place and instead want to intentionally behold the wonder of it daily.

Just like you may push down emotions like sadness or anger, it is so easy to disconnect with the feeling of wonder. Whether it is a poem, music, the joy of a child, witnessing cats play, an awe-inspiring view or the beauty of a spring day, can you allow the emotion of wonder to fill you and lead you back to life? If you keep your eyes open, wrap yourself with wonder and awe and let your spirit tune into beauty and mystery, you will never grow weary of life.

Go experience the wonder of it all,

Christy