don't close your eyes!
‘the most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. it is the source of all true art and all science. he to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead: (their) eyes are closed.’
-albert einstein
author vladimir nabokov will best be know for his novels ‘pale fire’ and ‘lolita’, but even deeper than the initial respect for his writings and word craft is the interest in the way he loved to place a deeper level hidden inside his body of works.
this russian born writer was obsessed with codes and ciphers and was known to put acrostics, number games, and even anagrams hidden in almost all his writings. when questioned why he put so many hidden meanings and messages that both puzzled and lured many readers he responded by exclaiming that (paraphrased) ‘‘the thrill of discovery was one of the miraculous things that life had to offer.’
i am on the constant search of wonder, i feel in a way that technology and the internet has alleviated the need for mankind, or perhaps our generation and those generations to come, to explore. instead of traveling around the world we now can look on wikipedia to break down the city, then watch a youtube segment from a first hand experience, then turn on the cooking channel to get a rough idea of the food in that area. without leaving a 2 foot radius.
‘this world, after all our science and sciences, is still a miracle; wonderful, inscrutable, magical and more, to whosoever will think of it.’
-t. carlyle
i believe it is time that we begin to take back our child like need of wonder and amazement, we need to embrace the thrill of not only self discovery but discovery in general. i am not insinuating that we should become park rangers or naturalists but i do feel strongly that we need to go out and actually explore this great world, with all its wonder and mystery innately attached.
-stephen
-albert einstein
author vladimir nabokov will best be know for his novels ‘pale fire’ and ‘lolita’, but even deeper than the initial respect for his writings and word craft is the interest in the way he loved to place a deeper level hidden inside his body of works.
this russian born writer was obsessed with codes and ciphers and was known to put acrostics, number games, and even anagrams hidden in almost all his writings. when questioned why he put so many hidden meanings and messages that both puzzled and lured many readers he responded by exclaiming that (paraphrased) ‘‘the thrill of discovery was one of the miraculous things that life had to offer.’
i am on the constant search of wonder, i feel in a way that technology and the internet has alleviated the need for mankind, or perhaps our generation and those generations to come, to explore. instead of traveling around the world we now can look on wikipedia to break down the city, then watch a youtube segment from a first hand experience, then turn on the cooking channel to get a rough idea of the food in that area. without leaving a 2 foot radius.
‘this world, after all our science and sciences, is still a miracle; wonderful, inscrutable, magical and more, to whosoever will think of it.’
-t. carlyle
i believe it is time that we begin to take back our child like need of wonder and amazement, we need to embrace the thrill of not only self discovery but discovery in general. i am not insinuating that we should become park rangers or naturalists but i do feel strongly that we need to go out and actually explore this great world, with all its wonder and mystery innately attached.
-stephen
Comments
I do all of this, but I like to take it one step further, and actually go to the places. TV and the internet can't let you experience the climate, taste the food, smell the people, feel the vibrations and wonder of the city.
Less internet, more reality.
It's a sad thing, to see or feel something wonderful and have to keep it to yourself, just because no one else will understand it or else will look at you funny. The love I feel for the world is massive, but more often than not I keep it to myself, thinking it's only me that feels this way. So thanks for the post...it's nice to know I'm not the only one. :)
~iwanttoplayguitarlikejoeymilligan
(youtube.com/distortionxoverdrive)
However I think technology can also lead to raise the curiosity level. I can't count the times I've seen something on T.V., such as a fun piece of art, outfit, or some kind of dish, and have tried to accomplish similar things myself. Yet, I have lived in this same town since I was three and have only gone to investigate the old ruins behind the Bell building up the street last week.
This generation I'm a part of is struggling against itself, but it's inevitable for the one under mine to have it's imagination ripped out through their eyes as they play games others invented.
i know that there is a God because of this-- life will always have its mysteries, its unsolved questions. if i knew it all, i'd be god and that is much too scary a thought for me.
And after reading the book, I have an extreme urge to get out of the house and go visit Rome myself :)
I hope this story doesn't seem too creepy... :-) I grew up in a very historic town in New Jersey... when I was a teenager I used to walk with my brother from my house to the center of town to grab a slice of pizza every now and then. In order to get to the center of town we had to cut through a very old cemetery. My brother and I would spend a lot of time in that huge cemetery wondering about some of the people buried there. We especially grew more curious about what the gargoyles and cherubs meant on some of the tombstones we saw. This curiousity led me to do some research in our town records. I discovered that some of these people (buried in the 1600s/1700s) were actually really important and did amazing things for this country. Some actually attended services at a church building that was abandoned and had always intrigued me growing up (click on the link below to see a pic) I found treasures of knowledge and unveiled some of the mysteries that my little town held secret. It's true...we can learn from history and the discoveries we make.
I have been "on the constant search for wonder" my whole life - it keeps things interesting. :-)
http://www.lostdestinations.com/north/sat002.jpg
you can tell a lot about a person by how they react when you say 'look, the stars are out...'
someone meantioned going through old graveyards and wondering about the people there, that's something that i do aswell.at camp, where i volunteer over the summer, we take the campers to an old indian cemetary. also, on a missions trip to alaska, the missionaries showed us the cemetary where local families and missionares had been buried for over one hundred years. one in particular intrigued me: a bush pilot for alaska, born in 1882. he was born before aviation, what must his family have thought when he set off to be a missionary bush pilot in alaska, a place that then was unsetteled and full of natives?
and, by the way, i finished reading the orphaned anythings a few weeks ago. <3 is all i've got to say.
thanks for making me contemplate.
And I also finished your book recently. I got it on Friday and finished it on Friday. Haha. You are an amazing writer
"i want to go to london, then japan, then rio de jenero."
"what for?"
"i want to see the world."
"you should save your money" he said.
i hate the feeling of pseudo-wise people attempting to pass on poisoned knowledge.
My neighbor boy pointed out that there was a bigger picture behind the little tiles and maybe I should line that up and the details would come into order, {He was a genius, really he is actually a genius}.
Well little Stephens suggestion did the trick and in no time the picture was all in place. He focused on the big, overall picture, and I was stuck in the details of each little square being just right. Together they showed the wonder of all creation. It took both perspectives in our naivety. I wish I still had that thing.
p.s Stephen grew up to be a Psychiatrist specializing in Bi Polar research and still is putting together puzzles, human puzzles. We both became Christians in Jr.Hi. through the unexplainable, complicated, beauty of nature and science blowing us away! There is just no way random collisions made this world! I would never trade growing up on that block...ahh childhood wonder! I hope I can always hold on to a piece of it. Thanks for reminding us of those days.
As for childlike wonder- Matthew 18:3 says "Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." So yeah, we should probably get on that.
Thanks for giving me a place to stop and reflect. I’m new to your blog and I'm really enjoying reading it.
some of the greatest discoveries in life for me have been the simple things that god has to show me through people and simplicities of life. thanks for your thoughts.
peace.
"Embrace relational uncertainty. It's called romance.
Embrace spiritual uncertainty. It's called mystery.
Embrace occupational uncertainty. It's called destiny.
Embrace emotional uncertainty. It's called joy.
Embrace intullectual uncertainty. It's called revelation."
respect and love.
My two cents: the best way to travel and experience the world, its people and their culture, nature and the way our own bodies actually work, is through cycling. Do a bike trip along back roads, through tiny towns, meet people who have never seen lycra, and then you'll get a good idea of what the rest of America is like, beyond TV and the internet.
Another two cents: I'm a scientist (grad student in cell biology) and as scientists we're pretty lucky in that every day we get to discover how amazing life really is, even at its most basic level. You can get caught up in the mechanisms of things work, but the wonder never really goes away.
http://www.pluggedinonline.com/read/read/a0004624.cfm
xxxc
Wonder and mystery are gifts! They are what allow us to feel blessed, loved, amazed, etc. It's so crucial to look at God in this way as well...it'll truly lead one to worshipping=)