Wonder

As a person who loves words- reading them, writing them, hearing their sounds- reading about the art of writing as inspired by Maggie Smith is always joyous. You may have come to read this blog with the expectation of learning more about sewing and making. Writing is making. It’s about bringing words together in new ways, sharing ideas with fresh perspective, and offering new insight into familiar situations.

In her book Dear Writer, Maggie Smith describes wonder as the cousin of gratitude. She goes on to say that we are all born as poets and can remain poets. What we are born with is a child’s beginner mindset. Whew! If you spend some time with young children what you experience is the world anew. Clouds take on new shapes and meaning. Rocks that you may have kicked out of your way are now wondrous playthings. The words children use are mispronounced, misused and filled with humor, honesty and yes, wonder. 

A child’s chief job is learning well before they ever enter a school. Somewhere along the way though, we adults become less eager to learn, to open our minds, our hearts and our souls to learning new ideas, new words, new experiences and new ways of viewing what has become familiar. We become stuck in our ways, leaving the joys of wonder for those much younger to discover.

What if we picked up that wonder and became more curious? What if we looked at previous solutions to common problems and imagined new solutions? What if? 

Creativity would bloom. Out of creativity is born a sense of wonder; wonder results in curiosity and creativity. They exist in a loop. Dare to wonder. Dare to make mistakes. Dare to see things with new eyes and reignite your beginner’s mindset. You won’t be sorry.