Reclaim the Wonder

McWane Science Center, Birmingham AL 2014

"When we start off in life, we look at reality with wonder, but it isn't the intelligent wonder of the mystics; it's the formless wonder of the child. Then wonder dies and is replaced by boredom, as we develop language and words and concepts. Then hopefully, if we're lucky, we'll return to wonder again." --Anthony De Mello, Awareness

We've just come off a most adventurous road trip, hubby and I, in which we traveled 500 miles with granddaughter #1 (almost six) and grandson #2 (3 years old) to visit grandson #1, who celebrated his fourth birthday while we were there. What a trip. What a hoot!

We didn't know if we were up to it, taking two little ones on a 9-hour car ride. But you know what (one of Adrian's favorite sayings, btw)? We not only survived, but we had a great time.

The best, of course, was visiting our son and his family and the opportunity for the cousins to once again play together. An extra bonus included a trip to the McWane Science Center in Birmingham. As the photo shows, the aquarium was a big draw. You should have seen--and touched--the big stingray in the pool!

One evening we also joined in on a neighborhood get-together where there were hotdogs, popcorn, water balloons and water slides--and a small nearby stream filled with tadpoles. Have you ever tried to catch a tadpole? They are very elusive to little hands.

Let's not forget the birthday celebration itself--all decked out in a Spiderman-themed cake awesomely decorated by our daughter-in-law (and birthday boy's mother), Suzan. She also led the children in beautiful renditions of songs from the soundtrack of Frozen ( a big movie hit, I understand, of the six-year old crowd) especially "Let It Go." Then there were Legos, the movie Cars, and, oh, a new skill: texting. Quite fascinating to our young reader--and entertaining. Mommy and Daddy were given regular updates as to where we were on the road.

We started out wondering if we could physically make this trip. After all, we still had to drive 500 miles back. We came back wondering about what we would have missed if we hadn't. Mostly it was seeing what we often take for granted through the eyes of the children and recapturing a bit of the sense of wonder ourselves.

I hope I can translate more of a sense of wonder in writing. For me, the best forum for such an exercise--and writing prompt--is trying my hand at poetry. What about you, what piques your sense of wonder? Is an awareness of magical, unusual, amazing, unexpected and downright captivating surprises still strong for you or do you find the feeling lacking? Any tips on how to reignite wonder in writing--and life in general?

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