Society has told us to grow up, be mature, and stop joking about everything. Why do we have to grow up and why did we lose our wonder? Do you conform to society or do you go against the grain?!
When we are young we are filled with such wonder and a sense of curiosity. Each new day brought us such joy. We discovered new things around every corner. We asked questions and we really wanted to know why things were the way they were.
Time went by and we got older. The boss wants us to be at work an hour earlier for a last-minute meeting. Bills pile up as we scramble through life to make ends meet. We stopped asking questions about the world around us. Our smile seemed to slowly fade away.
I am here to give you permission to smile. Permission to be kid-like and to do your very best to find fun, laughter, and playfulness everywhere you go. It’s ok to be serious when need be, but really let’s try to keep that to a minimum.
Stop looking at the news, stop being around people who weigh you down and don’t understand having a zest for life. Pay smiles forward to others daily. Look around with wonder again. I promise you that it will all be worth it. Your mind will jumpstart again.
Start looking at sunsets, sunrises, and the moon again. Look deep into each with a sense of peace and tranquility. (don’t look directly at the sun as you can hurt your eyes I was more meaning to take it all in :)! You guys take things so literally sometimes. Smile!
To give more context to this post, recently I had a beautiful opportunity as an artist to be a part of a project at a local theme park. My group and I had our art on display and for sale in a large kiosk inside of the theme park for the summer (2024). Shortly after arriving a Morning Dove bird arrived and started building her nest. Each day I was there I was able to see and interact from a distance with her.
She would watch what we were doing and just keep her little eggs warm and safe. One day I saw her partner arrive and I was watching with curiosity as he walked over the beam to where she was at. He brought more twigs for the nest. Next, the momma dove stood up and then they switched places so that she could take a break and hunt for food and he would snuggle with the baby eggs.
It was such a beautiful sight and I was so enthralled with them. I have always been a curious creature and I personally haven’t lost my wonder but I have noticed that many others my age simply don’t have a zest for life and don’t seem to be curious about the world around us.
While chatting with different patrons I would tell them the cool story. Many just didn’t seem to be even curious enough to take a look for themselves and that made me sad. Some others truly perked up and even took pictures. This was part of the reason I did this post.
The other part was because we had built an interactive mural at the park for people to make little fingerprint flowers on the board. I would ask all the families and groups that would arrive if they would like to do it. Every single one of the parents encouraged their kids to create some art. When I would ask the parents if they would like to as well they would mostly say, “No that’s ok.”
I wanted them to smile and have fun so I would always just keep the ink tray in front of them and smile to encourage them to do it with their kids. Some of the parents lit up with joy as if they were truly waiting for permission to do it as well. It was a sad and beautiful discovery for me. The beautiful part is that they had such big smiles while they were doing it and most would say, “That was fun!”
I would tell them how great it was to see them come out of their shell and I would explain to them how we are losing our wonder and I wanted them to know it was ok to enjoy themselves. Most would chat about it further and agree with me. It was such an amazing experience and I hope that each one of those parents and the other adults who let their guard down to be a kid will continue to find new ways to discover the wonder.
Conclusion
We need to find our wonder again, we need to play, have fun, and explore this beautiful world around us. Please use this post to reevaluate where you are at. Are you still curious, playful, and fun?! No? Then fire up the goodness and pass it on, please.
