Wonder is the beginning of wisdom. -- Socrates
Back to school, going to school, fall is coming!
So what have I been thinking about this week? Wonder. I was walking the other day and contemplating, as I do when I walk, and I started thinking about wonder. Both the awe-filled state of wow! as well as that state of wondering and curiosity.
I was thinking about this in part because I was so fascinated by the picture of the back of my eye at the eye doc's, and how weird it is to adjust to new glasses (3-D is bizarre!), and really it just sort of spirals out from there because the eclipse and the universe and the world and the big things are so huge and complex and the tiny things are so tiny and complex! There's really never any end of things that I can find to wonder about. Curiosity and wonder go hand in hand.
As I was flipping through my cards looking for something to send to a friend (hey, I have good intentions!), I found a card that was decorated with the quote, "Wonder is the beginning of wisdom. --Socrates." Which then gave me occasion to wonder about that, but without that spark of wonder, that leads to curiosity, which leads you to wanting to learn more... of course, how else would you progress to wisdom?
And of course there was an eclipse. What was most amazing to me was how bright it was with 94 or 95% of the sun obscured. Just the tiniest sliver of the sun was visible and... still really pretty bright! The other thing that sort of surprised me was how many people reported feeling really emotional about it. Like the disappearing of the sun was really unsettling. There were actual astronomers who talked about this effect as well. And on the third hand... I shall come in again. Another other thing that surprised me was how many people left right as soon as the peak of the eclipse was over. That's like leaving at the half time show! People are so strange sometimes.
So, that's what I've been wondering about this week. How 'bout you?
With love, wonder, and curiosity,
--Susan