[ Reverb10 : Day 4 : Wonder ]

Wonder is the world. I'm here in it with all my senses.

I feel the tickle of the fan blowing air across my skin. I hear the constant whir and the papers it rustles. I feel my body. The back of my neck is just slightly too warm. My hair is piled on top of my head. I can feel its weight, but it doesn't weigh me down - curiously, it pulls my head up, reminding me to hold my head high. A tram rumbles by, unseen, and a door slams downstairs. Far from being disturbing, these noises slide barely noticed into my ears, accents in the soundtrack of my life.

Wonder is awareness, everything that's happening right now.

"Wow, that tree has SO many shades of green!"

I'm waiting for the tram. I stare at the sky. The clouds slide slowly past me. So fluffy - how did the Renaissance artists get it so right? I wonder. I stare for so long that transparent shapes begin to appear in front of my eyes. Science books tell me they're just red blood cells moving through the blood vessels in my eyes, and I believe it. But even with such a mundane explanation, it's really bloody amazing! I could stare at them for hours.

"I wandered lonely as a cloud..."
-- William Wordsworth.

I still wonder about things - why does water flowing through the pipes make a different sound when its hot to when its cold? I almost don't want to know - not yet anyway. I want to wonder for a little longer. How thrilling it must be to be a child, to still have so much to find out....

"Surely it must be possible to find that out."
-- Fritz Saxl.

Walking through the park, in the pouring rain. Grey and green blurs, so wet and clean. I notice a single leaf plastered onto the path, such a bright green against the grey concrete. My feet squelch wetly in my shoes. I smile.

I meditate. Back when I had fewer cares and I could meditate. I read a chapter of the Tao Te Ching as customary, but today I decide to bite off more than I can chew and meditate on the whole universe. After I don't know how long sitting in the centre, it's there. My mind can encompass it for just a few seconds. The universe. Tears pour down my face. It changes my life.



Wet Leaves After a Rainstorm: Ginger Leaf,
originally uploaded by Craig Jewell.