Approaching the Day With Wonder

I am reading a book by Stephen Levine called “A Year to Live: How to Live This Year as If It Were Your Last,” which on the surface may seem a bit grim. Yet, with a strong desire to bring more presence, mindfulness, and gratitude to daily life, thinking today could be my last might bring more urgency to pay attention to what is truly important. In talking with a friend about this idea, they replied, “If today were my last day, I would eat terrible food, rob a bank, and be reckless. There is no incentive to do the right thing or make better, long-term choices. That feels like a terrible way to organize your day.” Huh. I hadn’t quite thought about it like that.

Then I ran across a podcast with award-winning author Suleika Jaouad, who flipped this concept on its head. Diagnosed with leukemia at the age of 22, Jaouad believes we might be better served to live our lives as if today was our first. Think of when you last spent time with a child: how even the smallest of things can bring surprise, delight and curiosity. Simply writing that brings a smile — conjuring an image of spending over 15 minutes opening and shutting a window with my three-year old cousin, who laughed at how funny and cool it was that we could open a window. Or five-year old Owen first eating a biscotti and declaring it the greatest food in the world: “Everyone should have biscotti, mama. Everyone!”

Which got me to thinking: How might the day shift if we could experience the smallest of things with fresh eyes? What might become available if we paused and experienced the warmth of a coffee cup, or the pleasure of a new Keurig in the office, or the exquisite joy of wearing your favorite pink Muppet cardigan on a cold, gray day while drinking your coffee? (She has a Muppet cardigan?)

Field Work (Notice I didn’t call this homework. Field work feels fancier, a bit exotic, like maybe you are going on safari.)

Here’s your invitation to set aside 5-10 minutes today and journal one of the following:

• Bringing Wonder to Work: Do you remember the first day you walked into your office? What were your feelings? How did you approach learning new information and meeting new people? Was there a sense of wonder, excitement, anxiety? How might you approach your day today with that lens?
• Bringing Wonder to Relationships: Take a moment to look at someone in your life (friend, parent, child, dog, cat, goat, favorite HR person in a Muppet sweater) and imagine you are just meeting them for the first time. What might you notice? What would you ask them? What might you appreciate in a new way?
• Bringing Wonder to Life Itself: Look outside and see the view as if for the first time. Gray, cold, and rainy? How else might you see it? Perhaps a soft, gray cashmere blanket, perfect for snuggling on the couch with a good book … or writing an email in your favorite Muppet sweater. What else can you see? Slowing down, noticing, articulating, and bringing curiosity to the smallest of details brings us back to this moment … with wonder.

And that might really be a key part of this work. Being present, honoring the small moments, seeing meaning in life as it is right now. And like most things, the gift is probably in BOTH/AND: seeing life as tender, precious, tenuous, limited with wonder.

Check out Suleika Jaouad’s TED Talk, “What Almost Dying Taught Me About Living.”

On paper, Laurie Whitcomb is an Oxford educated, certified Human Resources professional with a thriving career in the Federal Judiciary. In practice/person, Laurie is a deeply human student of life, a leadership and life coach, mindfulness practitioner, and dedicated “whole person” cultivator. She is passionate about bringing head and heart together in every coaching conversation and actively “walking beside” all humans as they work to get un-stuck and flourish. When not championing growth, development, equity, and inclusion, Laurie can be found practicing yoga, listening to podcasts, and offering helpful advice to baseball umpires throughout Washington State.

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