On Finding Wonder
To me in the future,
Hello from the past! This past week, like grass sprouting from concrete, pockets of wonder have sprung up in my everyday life (seeing and hearing Yuja Wang's crystal clear runs, listening to the resonating sounds of a meaty Ravel chord that I played myself, experiencing (feeling the wind, hearing/seeing the waves) the bluffs), and more importantly, I've noticed and treasured these moments! Despite feeling busier and busier each passing day, the elation that results from an encounter with wonder does not seem to wane.
Thus, I write to you from the past in an attempt to record some things I do to generate wonder. As such, if your life seems to have an absence of wonder/fun/joy, maybe try:
Things
- to change your environment.
- to take a shower or wash your face.
- to go outside on a walk. Maybe see and go hear the waves crash for a few moments.
- to go for a run or do physical exercise (suggested by Arjun)! Either way, consider doing something radically different than what you were doing.
- to stay offline!. Online is a vicious place to be.
- to write — writing is hard, and the task of writing well is itself a joy worth reaching. (Also writing will put you in a reflective state which is a nice state to be in.)
- to sleep well, eat well, and breathe well. Garbage in => Garbage out.
- to have a conversation with someone! For best results, the conversation should be spontaneous and not controlled (e.g. don't prepare talking points; just find someone, get interested, and have an engaging conversation).
- talking through what's happening with an AI (suggested by Arjun).
- to speedrun something that matters to you. Find a daunting task, and go make the best progress you can on it in <60min.
- to find beauty in something.
Meta-things
- to relax :). You have made, are making, and will continue to make progress on those meaningful things.
- to invert all advice you hear. "You should relax more" -> perhaps you should do more!
- to take the advice given to the extreme. "Sleep early" -> Sleep 2h before a [normal time].