“Man is surprised to find that things near are not less beautiful and wonderous than things remote.”

Emerson, 1837, pg.21

When we travel to new places, we seem to wear a new lens. We actively seek moments of awe. We soak-in every moment of beauty and find inspiring moments even in the most desolate of circumstances. We’re seeing differently, more opportunistically; opening ourselves up to the possibility of being awe-struck.

That engagement with awe soaks into our soul and becomes part of it. We’re uplifted, giving us renewed wind in our sails; a sense of excitement and wonder. It engages us with the world. It can instil fear in us as well as joy, giving us a genuine new piece of understanding and meaning. This requires us to shift about our existing understandings, helping our development.

When we find ourselves where we spend most of our time, we could actively and consciously use what we have at hand to engage with that same sense of awe. Our willingness to extract moments of awe very possibly matters as much as the opportunities existing to begin with. When we choose to raise our eyes from the ground and immerse ourselves in our surroundings, we see a world full of detail. Maybe we should decide that wonder is ever present, everywhere, and just waiting to be revealed.

Emerson, R.W.,(1837) The American Scholar, Essays and English Traits, The Harvard Classics, P.F. Collier & Son Corporation, 1937