Restoring a sense of wonder through the world of WWOOF
By Callie Forsythe
Can you remember the last time you looked out at a view that left you breathless? Read a book or poem that stopped you in your tracks, or listened to music that brought you to tears? These experiences fill us with wonder – a sense that the world is so much larger than our small understanding of it, helping us see life in perspective of a larger picture.
When I think back to my childhood, these moments came fast and often: tasting a peach that was perfectly juicy and ripe; picking flowers in the backyard and taking the time to truly look at each petal and stem; watching a dizzying constellation of fireflies flitting about an hour past my bedtime.
When we are young, wonder is all around us because we are experiencing these phenomena for the first time. As we age, these simple pleasures can lose their magic if we let them. The sun setting into dusk now reminds us of work still to be done; the two-week-old flowers in a vase on the counter are just another chore waiting to be tended to, alongside the rest of the untidy kitchen.
It is easy to lose that sense of everyday magic when we are just trying to make it through the day. We struggle to keep up with work or school, chores, and bills that pile up the moment we finish a to-do list. Add to that rising prices at the grocery store, a relentlessly heavy news cycle, and ever-changing technology that begs for our attention.
But this wonder – this childlike awareness of the world – is actually what many psychologists call an antidote to the heavy feeling of life. A recent article in the Harvard Business Review notes: “More than ever we need ways to refresh our energies, calm our anxieties, and nurse our well-being. One potentially powerful intervention is rarely talked about: the cultivation of experiences of awe. Like gratitude and curiosity, awe can leave us feeling inspired and energized.”
Awe is time spent in nature, with art, or with kindness. It is being aware of our surroundings, finding a sense of play within ourselves and others, and taking time to notice and enjoy the small parts of life. These are the factors that bring more life to living and more joy to our days.
While wonder can come in many forms, it was not until I WWOOFed for the first time after leaving a corporate job that I experienced it daily, multiple times a day, in a way that brought me back to those long summer days of childhood. I watched plants grow from seeds to buds to fruit-producing beauties; I witnessed a baby calf being born and taking its first steps, bare feet squishing through the soft earth, gathering herbs to cook a shared meal, watching the dew burn off a field in the early morning light, the sun shifting my nervous system back to a place of ease. It was these moments that ushered me back into a sense of wonder, back to seeing life in a beautiful light.
The Wonder of WWOOF was the wake-up call I needed to realize that life is still beautiful. While the bills will still come and the news cycle does not stop, we have the power to see the beauty around us. We are the owners of our awareness, and what we choose to focus on will shape our world.
So, this is the call and the reminder: wonder is still all around, and it is up to us to find it. Whether that means slowing down to take a walk during a hectic day or planning a WWOOFing adventure to reboot your senses, the wonder is there. We just have to open our eyes to see it.
