The Everyday Human

August: On Wonder and Awe August 18 It’s not the spoon that brings out the flavor, is it? The flavor is in the sauce itself, in each and every ingredient that comes together to make a single, solitary entity. The spoon just gives it a gentle nudge to bring it all out and push it toward something beautiful. And just so, the capacity for wonder and awe is within us all. I can’t quite say what it is,...

August: On Wonder and Awe August 17 “The danger!” “The danger, yes—that’s real, but I would also venture to say the business of love. I love her, Darrel. And something happens . . . once you step off the last leaf of your flower here. Your eyes open up to it all: the beauty, wonder, and yes, the danger, but no matter how hard you try . . . you can’t shut them again. Because the ground is out there...

August: On Wonder and Awe August 16 That smile on his face at the wonder of its impossible existence. Would I trade that for an image or idea of something I’ve never seen? Something I might believe others had, or have? Or will I hold it, cherish it, protect it— —because it is more than just an old photograph. More than a deceased idea from a dead world. So much more. In that it is real. Reflection...

August: On Wonder and Awe August 15 To stand before art is not just to behold its beauty and feel the emotions stirring within you, it is also to marvel at the fact that another human, likely in another time and another place, created something so special and beautiful, and to feel like it exists almost solely for you—while knowing it exists for every other human who experiences it. Consider art f...

August: On Wonder and Awe August 14 Look at the mountain from the bottom of a field and you will know what it feels like to be an ant. Look at the doe cleaning her fawn in the glade toward the peak and you will know that love and care transcend humanity. Take the time to see the mountain from afar and from up close—as a part of it. Take the time to see your loved ones, the world, and everything in...

August: On Wonder and Awe August 13 It’s getting more difficult to find unexplored and mysterious lands in this world, but there is much still unfathomed by you as an individual. There is so much you haven’t seen and do not understand, and luckily, there always will be. Leave the stale air and artificial light behind. Leave the news and incessant chattering, those ear worms of social media and the...

August: On Wonder and Awe August 12 Most everything we exist beside in the modern world (manmade stuff at least) is screaming in your face and waving its arms around jumping up and down, demanding information or attention or even answers from you. Wonder on the other hand, makes one simple request of you: it asks that you exist in the moment and in the stillness and silence of your mind, simply ex...

August: On Wonder and Awe August 11 Working outside, among the wonder of nature and the plants, has taught me that what I perceived to be good for me (less bugs and pristine leaves), is not good for nature or the world, and thus not good for me because I am a part of that world, not some entity existing outside of it. I have learned to share. How many tomatoes can I actually eat? How many zucchini...

August: On Wonder and Awe August 10 Experiencing a sea change is like climbing out of a dark cave and seeing the light of the sun on each blade of grass, stopping to recognize a smile on a loved one’s (or even a stranger’s) face, having patience and reverence for each stage of a flower from young bud to full bloom—and then applying all of this to your daily life. And this isn’t to say that life is...

August: On Wonder and Awe August 9 And then, there are the moments of the in-between. In thinking about this quote from A Tree Grows in Brooklyn , I don’t know if it’s possible to look at everything through the lens of the first or last time. Or even if we should. These moments are special for the simple fact that they are the first and the last. And those moments in between—they might not be the...

August: On Wonder and Awe August 8 What do we stand to lose still— those things that once taken, cannot be put back or made right again? We stand on the precipice of losing so much and adding to the pile of bones. Reflection title: How Much More Can We Stand To Lose? Creative inspiration:  Cormac McCarthy, The Road Reflection question: What am I doing on a daily basis to cultivate and preserve the...

August: On Wonder and Awe August 7 So long as man worships money and power (and when has he not?), I'm afraid we will only move further and further into this ersatz life . But that is a bit defeatist of me, isn’t it? There wasn’t a cure nearly a century ago, and there isn’t one today. But if you look hard enough, you can find others who refuse to enter into that false life, too. You can find...

August: On Wonder and Awe August 6 With the walking—the movement—your body slowly awakens, shaking off the rust of stagnancy. The tunnel vision you experienced moments before opens with the sky, broadening your perspective, sharpening your ideas, revitalizing your thinking. Oh, and very important, do this without a screen. Leave your phone home, or at the very least, leave it in your pocket or bag...

August: On Wonder and Awe August 5 When you’ve built a life you enjoy and have fallen in love with your routine, it’s good to stick to it. But too much of anything—even good things—can wear on you. It can become a sort of anaesthesia and numb you to life. That’s where looking at the world in unfamiliar ways comes into play. And it doesn’t have to mean looking at all new things, either. You don’t h...

August: On Wonder and Awe August 4 It is a wasteland and the hollow wind and the bones and corpses of what once was chills you to your core. You turn to leave, but before you go, you see something pierce through the seemingly eternal monochrome of these deadlands. A bit of green, blue, yellow, pink, purple—poking through the wasted soil. The rainbow-colored sprout of the seed of an idea, waiting f...

August: On Wonder and Awe August 3 It’s in the dark shadows of the universe—the unknown worlds that revolve around the stars we see at night, the wonder that comes with watching a bagworm stick its head out of its cocoon and work its way down the branch of a cypress tree, or the moment of self discovery while walking alone on a quiet path in the park before the world wakes. It’s these places and t...

August: On Wonder and Awe August 2 If you look at my social media feed, you’ll come across close-up shots or videos of butterflies and bees and snowberry clearwings (when they stay still long enough for me to get a shot). And for every 15-second video of those wonderful creatures, there are hours of my life spent standing among the flowers that I am fortunate and grateful to grow in my yard, just...

August: On Wonder and Awe August 1 July, the month of On Family is over at the Everyday Human. Family—what a beautiful and complicated thing it can be.   This month, the month of August (my wife’s birthday month and mine!) will have us exploring one of my favorite topics—On Wonder and Awe. A key component of what makes being human worthwhile, interesting, and sets us apart from so many other creat...

July: On Family July 31 This is a simple one.  Love is what it all comes down to.  It makes all the difference. It makes us who we are. And wherever you find love— —you find family. Reflection title: The Root of the Tree of Life Creative inspiration:  Fred Rogers, Won’t You Be My Neighbor Reflection question: How am I bringing my love into the world? How am I helping others become who they are wit...

July: On Family July 30 Out of a whole life of moments—about 2.5 billion if you count each second as a moment and live to 80—birth and death only make up for two (give or take a few). Granted, they are two very important ones. That leaves a whole lot of space in between. And in those in-between moments, you’ll of course find joy and sorrow, pain and pleasure, loss and gain—and every blend and nuan...

July: On Family July 29 Anytime you learn something new (and I hope you’re always trying to learn something new), you’re bound to make mistakes. I try to teach this lesson to my daughter every day. She likes to get things right and can be hard on herself when she doesn’t nail it right away. But it’s also a lesson for me as a parent. This is something brand new for me, and each day brings new chall...

July: On Family July 28 You’ll get these results, or hear these stories and they’ll hit you with the shock that comes with learning that what you believed to be true was, in fact, a lie. And it’s not just the facts that shake you—it’s the feeling of being lost, of not knowing who you are, or where you came from, or who your loved ones really are. As the days pass, you’ll have question upon questio...

July: On Family July 27 The day inevitably comes when you find your mother or father or parental figure crying at the kitchen table after learning their mother has passed. Or when they mutter the words, “I don’t know what we’re gonna do,” when watching the bills rack up higher and higher with no way out. And on that day, you'll learn that they’re just human: delicate and vulnerable patchworks...

July: On Family July 26 Your family, your closest friends—those who you should have the most patience for. It’s always easiest to hurt the ones you love.  Maybe because you know they love you back and you take it for granted that they’re there and in your life in the first place and you just expect them to be there every day for the rest of it. Unfortunately, that’s not always the case. You can pu...

July: On Family July 25 While some parents might speak with that voice and impart the wisdom and benevolence of the gods, let’s not forget that the cycle is not just that of good . . . but also of evil. And since humans are flawed, and some are fated or choose to carry out evil deeds, they will impart not some holy wisdom and righteousness, but instead a kind of profane ignorance and malevolence....