| “Optimization is terrific if you want to get somewhere else in the future. But it’s terrible for being where you actually are right now. When goals overtake experience, you lose the freedom to encounter your life as it happens. And when you lose that ability, you are no longer living in full. We used to optimize work so we could do everything else. Now we optimize life as though living were another job. Too many of us seem to be maxxing our way out of the experiences and perspectives that give us maximum meaning.” – Ian Bogost in “The Missing Ingredient in Modern Life” In a 24 hour period last week, I had the opportunity to read the article cited above from October’s The Atlantic; to view a talk by Jennifer Wallace (author of Mattering and Never Enough) and Kelly Corrigan (host of the NPR show and podcast Kelly Corrigan Wonders and numerous books); and to reflect on the book When You Wonder, You’re Learning, (read by our faculty and our parent book group two years ago) by Gregg Behr and Ryan Rydzewski. All came to the same conclusion in one form or another: “Wonder, the most immense of our sensations, is the antidote” (Bogost) to a too rushed life that can focus ever more on productivity and “maxxing,” become ever more surface-oriented, and become ever more anxiety-provoking. Wallace spoke of engaging deeply in mattering, the feeling that you are valued and add value to others’ lives. She reinforced the notion, credited in her book to Simone Weil, that “Attention is the rarest and purest form of generosity.” By paying attention to those whose lives we touch, by making sure we attend to their need to matter, we also feed our own need for mattering. She believes that deeper, more satisfying relationships then open up. As she nears the end of her book, she writes, “As we move through our days, we are shaping the lives around us, often without even realizing it. Each small kindness, each time we tune in and make someone feel seen and valued, we are building a mattering network. Over time, that network becomes stronger than any one individual. It holds and survives when change upends everything.” Corrigan spoke of the value of “Making” and of “Beholding” and how both inspire a sense of wonder, much like mattering can. She points out that research finds that the creation of anything – from woodworking to gardening, from knitting to cooking – can lead to calm, satisfaction, and health benefits, even if it’s your first time, you’re not very good at it, or don’t complete it. Corrigan also discussed the importance of taking/making time to behold things – to soak up the profundity and power of nature or of the common but beautiful things that surround us: a colorful leaf, an ant hauling its load, or an endless vista. Behr and Rydzewski’s work is described in their book’s subtitle: “Mister Rogers’ Enduring Lessons for Raising Creative, Curious, and Caring Kids.” In a world whose rate of change exceeds our ability to keep up, the authors encourage the development of wonder and curiosity, forces that ignite our minds and feed our souls. All four writers posit that making time for wonder, connection, and creation (for both adults and children) acts as a salve for the demands of modern life and can lead to respite and inspiration. Bogost points out, though, that “wonder is too often compartmentalized” and becomes “a feeling associated with extraordinary and rare experiences, banished to a realm outside the mundanities of daily life.” In fact, wonder is a powerful catalyst to making life come alive and become less mundane. As Bogost concludes, “Wonder interrupts the impulse to rush to the future before it arrives. It makes the world stop serving our self-centered plans or intentions and instead offer something worth encountering for its own sake.” |