Wonderstruck: because the universe wants us to be surprised by what comes next
From the start, the Wonderstruck essays have been both humanist and metaphysical, originating in a profound belief that life is not entirely random... and that the intention of the universal and infinite works itself out through the interactions that we have with one another and all the world around us.
The time is ripe for optimism. But then, the time is always ripe.
By way of metaphor, consider my fifteen years as a caregiver. When I was carrying Jenn piggyback to doctors' appointments in 2003 because she was too weak to manage stairs, I could not have anticipated that was merely the opening salvo of a prolonged and agonizing medical ordeal.
I could also not have guessed at the intense joy or wonder we would experience at times throughout that trial, or at the personal and spiritual growth which would result.
But the beginning of our story was infused with enough magic, and its end bathed in enough foreshadowing, that when it came to its close I had sufficient experience of the world and its workings to know that all was not lost.
The time was ripe, ripe for something. I just did not know what. To an extent, I was like a moon-eyed Tony in West Side Story. "The air is humming... and something great is coming "
And something great did.
On a certain day and at a very certain time, as you will read, I discovered a word for that feeling. "Wonderstruck."
Everything that you read in these pages is 100% true, if much of it wildly improbable. I have lived my questions, as Rilke once recommended to a young poet, and these essays are a record of my progress, gradually, without perhaps even noticing it, toward living into my own answers.
I invite you to question my experience, to ponder whether such a universe can actually exist. You may find it hard to believe, as it may defy your own experience of the world.
But be patient with my words, especially if they resonate, and read them slowly. And also be patient with your own journey as you live your own questions.
The essays in this collection are presented in the order in which they were first published, starting in April 2018, and focus on the philosophical and metaphysical underpinnings of the state of wonder.
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