“May you experience each day as a sacred gift woven around the heart of wonder.” John O’Donohue
Wonder is a quality we typically associate with childhood. It has the sense of naiveté, of innocence and the ability to be surprised. After a few proverbial ‘trips around the block’ of life we can tend to eschew wonder in favour of experience, knowledge, ‘wisdom’, being worldly wise.
There is however a sacredness to wonder because it’s the gateway to beauty and joy. John O’Donohue invites us into the ‘heart of wonder’. We might describe this as a heart that is filled with curiosity, anticipation, willingness to see each day and each aspect of each day through fresh eyes, and in doing so to touch into a new experience, a new pleasure, a fresh connection with the beauty of life before us. As we do we leave behind weariness, jadedness, worldliness.
In a world which prizes a sense of ‘been there, seen it, done it’ how refreshing would it be to allow ourselves to engage the wonder of the heart and celebrate the sacred gifts that are to be found in every moment if only we were to allow ourselves to see them.
Wonder is opening, it’s full of potential and possibility, it has a vulnerability to it that brings an intimacy with what is right in front of us.
Imagine the smiles, the joy, the gleam in the eye as we engage with each other and the ease with which difficulties could be held in right proportion and tackled when seasoned with a good helping of wonder and beauty. Can we imagine connecting with more sacred wonder in our families, our relationships and in our workplaces and communities?