We may
never know for sure the origin and need for wonder in the human species, but we
do know that it comes from a long way back. Jane Goodall was observing her chimpanzees in Gombe when she noticed a
male chimp gesturing excitedly at a beautiful waterfall. He perched on a nearby rock and gaped at the
flowing torrents of water for a good 10 minutes. Goodall and her team saw such responses on several
occasions. She concluded that chimps have a sense of wonder, even speculating
about a nascent form of spirituality in our simian cousins.
Wonder
helps us connect
with that which is good. Wonder, like other emotions, evolved as a
motivator to help us move towards satisfaction or benefit, and away from
discomfort or harm. It balances with the other emotions. The classic example is of a bear, at
least classic for those of us who lived in Alaska where all life can be
distilled down to bear stories or metaphors. Wonder
draws us to the woods in hopes of seeing a bear, and fear keeps our distance.
Too much fear and we never go out, too much wonder and we are lunch. Wonder
tempered with all our other emotional tools asks us to take a middle way - to get
out and take some risks, but not overly so.
With wonder open, we connect, and
life's possibilities open before us.
Wonder helps us engage with the world to live in ways that integrate the
reality that beauty is ever present. It also helps us face the also true, but
harsher reality of harm, illness, death, disappointment, and massive suffering.
Without wonder, we risk closing off to life, living more shallow lives, less
intimacy and vibrancy.
One study showed how wonder opens us
up. In the study, they took teenagers
rafting. A
week later they report being more engaged and curious about the
world. Wonder also lifts depression, and in one study showed
people to have less inflammation as measured in saliva. It helps our prosocial behaviors - we become
more empathetic, humble, and generous. When
we have more empathy, others resonate with us better and we have improved
relationships. Our self identity moves
from a separate self to being part of a whole, or the whole itself. By merely writing about awe, we become
kinder, more compassionate, and this can extend to other species and the biotic
community as a whole.
I lead Nurture Nature workshops and retreats where we look out how we have choice in moving towards that which is
good for us and others. How can we
nurture human nature so that we can nurture all of nature, I believe an
important question in this time of climate change, loss of biodiversity,
extinction, and factory farming. Two primary
aspects of human nature we nurture is wonder and its partner, empathy. There are many ways to nurture
wonder, as Rumi wrote: "Let the
beauty we are be what we do, there are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the
ground."
In
Part 3 I will describe the first of four ways to nurture our wonder.
