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Home | Human Flourishing | Mindfulness Article Archive | Wonderment

Wonderment

Pause and Experience Wonder

BY: T. Franklin Murphy | May 2018 (edited November 25, 2021)
An open book with light coming from the pages. A Flourishing Life Society article on wisdom from wonderment
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Learning from wonderment. Finding wisdom and integrating knowledge through wonderment.
Today, I sit in a university library, surrounded by rows of books, countless chronicles of human discovery and knowledge. The meager crumbs of wisdom I have gathered over the last half century seems insignificant and trivial. In stunned wonderment, I ponder the massive collections of knowledge. For a moment, I try to put m feelings of insignificance into words, but then, I pull back, allowing wonderment to teach. My mind slowly gives way to raw feeling, no judgments and no words.

Individual Knowledge is Limited

​Before my existential search began, I knew so much less; but believed I knew so much more. The ignorance of youth awards security through unqualified competence. Perhaps, the courageous child only explores because of innocence to the dangers. As we progress, delving into expansive unknowns, we gain faith, not in security of the known, but in our capabilities to navigate the unknowns.

Key Definition:

Wonderment is a psychological state of awed amazement.

Wisdom Bestowed Through Wonderment

​Immanuel Kant wrote, “Two things awe me most, the starry sky above me and the moral law within me.” Research continually unveils new discoveries. Relatively unexplored frontiers of behavior and the mind are full of exciting undiscovered knowledge.

Investing precious time in exploring expands our understanding. Leaning is a honorable endeavor. We can, as I did today, slip into a library, or search through the abundance of information available at our fingertips; but written words are limited. Sometimes, we must put down the book, close the computer, and get lost in wonder.
"Look up at the stars and not down at your feet. Try to make sense of what you see, and wonder about what makes the universe exist. Be curious."
~Stephen Hawking


Experience and Learning

Experience teaches powerful lessons. We can read about compassion but do absorb the words—the mere letters on a page—into knowledge and feeling. Converting words into living knowledge is the source of life-directing wisdom.

Lessons absorbed express themselves through positive action. We may understand academically the science of neuronal communication but not recognize our emotions as they dance within our soul. A person well-versed in psychology may explain in clear vernacular their action but continue to struggle, unable to integrate the smooth articulation into living knowledge.
"Converting words into living knowledge creates life-directing wisdom."

Freeing our Mind from Anxiety

I often get distracted by the many duties of publishing and maintaining the Flourishing Life Society website, hoping to provide timely and helpful knowledge. I read, research and practice. But some of greatest achievements in wellness occur when I step away from the words and just experience the wonderment of life.
"The sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in its net of wonder forever."
~Jacques Yves Cousteau

Finding Wonderment with a Pause

​When growing stalls, and life burdens, gathering more information may not be the answer. We must pause, giving our minds opportunity to integrate what we already know—start the diet, follow the budget, act with kindness. Many excel at academics but woefully lack integration. They seek to rectify confusion by seeking more facts; but facts fail to ignite change. Action is needed. Google all you want; but the internet searches never end, distracting but not motivating.
 
Great insights need time to percolate. This only happens when we set labels, words, and symbols aside and quietly absorb surrounding greatness. Lost in wonderment, we free ourselves of anxiety, appreciate the unknown universe, and invite great sources of hidden knowledge to descend and enliven our tired minds. Stop the narrative, feel the wonder.
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T. Franklin Murphy
T. Franklin Murphy
Wellness. Writer. Researcher.
​T. Franklin Murphy has a degree in psychology. He tirelessly researches scientific findings that contribute to wellness. In 2010, he began publishing his findings.

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External Links:
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External Link. Lotus Living. Improve Your Thoughts to Improve Your Mood
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​Other Flourishing Life Society articles of interest on this topic:

We can see the world a little clearer by stepping beyond the confines of our own ego.
FLS Link. Experiencing Awe: Experiences of awe promote pro-social behavior and invite psychological development. The wise find awe in the awesomeness of life.
Logotherapy. A psychological definition of logotherapy. Article link
Books, conferences and education are wonderful; but deeper wisdom comes from grander sources.
Uncertainty Avoidance. A Flourishing Life Society article link
FLS link. The Joy of Being. We find joy in living through a more serene path than accumulation and achievement. We find joy in relishing small moments of simply being.
FLS Link. The Experience Machine: In 1974, Robert Nozick posed a question. Would you plug into an experience machine that provided all the feelings of desired experience without the struggles of reality?
FLS internal Link. My Amazing Discoveries in Wellness. We provide the unconscious mind with conscious work. The mind intertwines philosophies to create a personal narrative that promotes wellness.
A Flourishing Life Society link. Overactive Mind
Eudaimonia: Living Well and Doing Good. A Flourishing Life Society article link
We get stuck in an existential funk, searching for meaning. Life may not readily appear meaningful; but we can give life meaning.
FLS Link. Realistic Optimism
Flourishing Life Society article link. A Meaningful Life
Keeping on trck when life obstacles interfere
Life is governed by laws. Many actions involve several laws competing fro dominance.
Possible Selves. A Flourishing Life Society Psychology definition. Article link

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Learning comes from more than pages in a book. Living knowledge must be experienced, converting words into actions.
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