Wonder...

And the buzzkills who try to steal it

The photos started pouring in on Friday night.

People were able to stand in their own neighborhoods at night and catch glimpses of the Aurora Borealis (aka the Northern Lights). And as they caught glimpses social media filled up with photos of the night sky bathed in greens and pinks and yellows that most of us have to travel to Alaska or Scandinavia to experience.

And then…like clockwork, came the buzzkills. The ones who were annoyed at the pictures. Those who wanted to make sure they were not counted among those enjoying themselves and instead really wanted to make sure how uncool they thought all the rest of us are for being excited.

You know this person.

It’s the one who says “I guessed that would happen” when the most exciting news is shared. Or who just says “Thanks” in a flat voice when the perfectly chosen gift is unwrapped.

As it turns out, these people are often dealing with one thing…impending doom. They fear the thing of awe will be too good to be true and they fear how they’ll feel if they really let the wonder seep into their body and joy flood them.

Also some people are just jerks who don’t like other people’s joy to sneak into their spaces.

But no matter which you encounter, don’t let them steal your wonder and awe. Science is starting to uncover that feelings of wonder may be exactly what we need to combat anxiety, stress, and overwhelm. Some even suggest going on something called a Wonder Walk, where you spend 20 minutes on a walk deeply engaged with the tiniest details of plants, animals, the sky, etc. in order to wake up the feelings of wonder and awe that we need to counteract our day to day dread and fear.

So…how about we all just collectively ignore the bummer bums. If we are feeling generous, we can invite them to join us in wonder, but if they refuse, we can choose to smile and go on without them. And whatever you do…please don’t stop sharing your moments of wonder. We need more and more of them to combat the crazy times we find ourselves in.

xx
Leah