E.B. White once said, “Always be on the lookout for the presence of wonder.”

And with its evergreens hanging, snowflakes falling, and Christmas tunes playing, December is a special time of the year to see (and feel) it!

This season, it’s time to celebrate the sense of wonder.

Definitions of Joy

Each month, we have been focusing on the various meanings of the word joy.

From January’s spiritual radiance to the gratitude of November, we have learned that joy isn’t just one feeling at all, but many different ones combined!

And it seems so fitting to have the feeling of wonder celebrated during this twelfth month.

With December’s focus on wonder, we often see this word as one reserved for the special and exceptional… for those “once in a lifetime” experiences. But… what if we strived to make wonder part of our day-to-day lives?

Let’s dive into the wonderful world of wonder to find out!

What’s Wonder, Really?

Words like “cheer”, “merry” and “wonder” are thrown around a lot this time of the year, yet have you ever stopped to consider the true meanings of these holiday words?

For wonder, in particular, we have to go back to around the 12th century in Old England.

Not containing any prefix or suffix, “wonder” stands alone all on its own. With roots back to the Old English word of “wunder” meaning “marvelous thing, the object of astonishment”, this word is quite historic!

Looking at the word from a present day lens, the word “wonder” is defined by popular dictionaries as meaning, “to think or speculate curiously”, “to be filled with admiration, amazement, or awe”, and “rapt attention or astonishment at something awesomely mysterious or new to one’s experience” (sources: Dictionary.com and Merriam-Webster).

However, Brené Brown takes this a step further in her analysis of “wonder” in her book, Atlas of the Heart.

When discussing the interchangeability of the words “wonder” and “awe”, Brown quotes the researchers Ulrich Weger and Johannes Wagemann in their description of the two saying, “‘Wonder inspires the wish to understand, awe inspires the the wish to let shine, to acknowledge and to unite’.

What I love about Brown’s look at the word of wonder is that she emphasizes how wonder leads us to want to learn more.

When looking back at the dictionary definitions from above, I feel that the closest one to match what Brown is saying is the first one: “to think or speculate curiously”.

Have you ever learned of something new and then suddenly found yourself learning as much as you could about it? Maybe it was a period of history that fascinates you. Or perhaps it was seeing a garden and wanting to learn as much as you could about gardening. Those could all be first described as senses of wonder. You were in wonder of something which made you curious to learn more.

And when those moments happen, isn’t it so fun to be in the flow of it?

Why Focus on Wonder This December?

There’s no way around it, December is a month that presents like no other month of the year.

Our ordinary surroundings are suddenly transformed into new sights and sounds. Our kitchens are filled with scents like cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg. Our hearts and daily interactions even seem to take on a new meaning this month. December’s special.

And with all the new-that is often only here for a relatively short period of time-it’s a great time to put emphasis on celebrating the wonder of it all. And hopefully bring that sense of wonder with us into the new year!

It’s so so so important to note here that wonder is a really intentional feeling-especially when felt during this time of the year.

Lydia Millen echos this in her book Evergreen (the Joyfilled Book Club Pick for December!) when she speaks about the special magical feeling the holidays bring…which I would argue is at least partly-or largely- a sense of wonder.

She states:

“I’m sure I’m not the only adult who has found themselves looking back on that childhood excitement and remembering the ‘good old days’ of Christmases been and gone. How exciting they used to feel. How cold December once seemed […] Though I hate to be the bearer of bad news the fact is that the Christmas magic we once felt as children was created by adults keen to curate that feeling… and if they could create it, I don’t see why we can’t too!” -Lydia Millen, Evergreen

The sense of wonder isn’t just going to appear to you, especially during December.

You have to be actively searching for it. Whether it’s taking the time to go look at Christmas lights, making the effort to put on your hiking boots and go for a snowy winter hike, or putting on your winter coat to go gaze up at the nighttime starry sky–it is up to you to create the conditions of wonder.

That can either feel: a.) like a burden or b.) like an opportunity.

I highly encourage you to look at it as the second option–we can feel endless wonder in our days and it’s entirely up to us!

Ways to Practice Some Wonder

Here are some ways to cultivate that sense of wonder:

1.) Gaze Upon the Stars: One of my favorite cartoons hangs framed in my closet. It’s a Calvin and Hobbes where the two are gazing up at the night sky and Calvin says, “If people sat outside and looked at the stars each night, I’ll bet they’d live a lot differently.” I don’t know what magic lies in the night skies, but there is something fascinating and beyond words when you take the time to look up at the stars. Maybe it’s a sense of just how small we are relatively or a reminder of the vastness of this existence. Or how much we just don’t know about this universe we live in. No matter the reasons, I always find a sense of wonder when I look up towards to skies.

2.) Be Present: This is perhaps the busiest time of the whole year for most people. It’s easy to get lost in that busyness and forget to take the time to be the present moment. What’s happening right now? Can you gaze at your Christmas tree and think how magical it is lighting up your house? What if you appreciate the delicious gingerbread smell wafting from your oven? Or, perhaps, stop and practice some gratitude for a warm cozy house filled with people you love. It can be hard to remember, but making the effort to be present is a wonderful mission to have this month… and it may lead you to see all the wonder there is around.

3.) Start Saying “I wonder…”: A school I interned at in grad school was student learning led, and they had these bulletin boards displayed in each classroom where students posted things they were wondering about. Fittingly called “Wonder Walls”, these displays showed a bunch of students finishing the sentence, “I wonder…”. It’s a simple little exercise, but what if you tried finishing that sentence more? I wonder… why the sunsets are better in the winter? I wonder… why we decorate Christmas trees? I wonder… how other countries celebrate the holidays? See if doing that adds just a spark more wonder to your days!

4.) Go Outside in Nature: Nature is such a powerful way to get into a state of wonder. Brené Brown writes that awe and wonder are commonly felt when being with nature because, “we feel overwhelmed by the vastness of something that is almost incomprehensible-it almost feels like what we’re witnessing can’t be true-like we’re seeing something that doesn’t fit with how we move through and understand our everyday lives.” This can be felt in both the big moments of seeing the nature of the Grand Canyon and in the small moments of taking the time to look at the birds outside your window. Nature’s so perfectly orchestrated, and taking the time to see, and cherish that, is wonder-producing!

5.) Mediate: I feel as though I write this tool down each month in this series, but I cannot say enough how much meditation changes my life. When I do it consistently, I cultivate such a deep sense of wonder that words can’t describe. Here’s my starter guide for meditation.

6.) Investigate Quantum Physics: Want to be in a state of pure wonder? Consider taking some time to learn about quantum physics. As we talked about earlier, wonder is when we want to learn more… and quantum physics consistently blows my mind at how it works, and it leaves me in a state of wonder about everything! Just start with a brief intro video.

7.) Take a Deep Dive into Learning: Have you been fascinated by something lately for no particular reason? Roll with it! Take time to learn more about it. What’s its history? How does it work? By investing in the time to learn more about it, you’ll be completing the circle wonder often starts…and have fun in doing so!

I’m curious: when was the last time you felt a sense of wonder? Comment below!