Wonder — An Elixir of Life

It all begins and ends with wonder, or so they say. Let’s perform a thought experiment. Before we embark on this journey, I would suggest you go to a quiet place and then start reading. Take a few drops of water in your palm and observe them closely. Sit back, take a few deep breaths and relax. Now, close your eyes and feel yourself forging a link with those tiny droplets of water still in your hand. Once you establish a sense of connection, simmer in that feeling for some time and try to imagine the different places those droplets have visited on their journey to you, the different people who have held them in their hands just like you are doing now — the stories they have encountered, felt and passed along and the people whom they have had the chance to influence and sustain. I hope you are still with me as we proceed with this experiment. Whatever we felt or tried to feel just now was at the macro level. Now let’s plunge ourselves into the magical world of atoms. We all know that water is formed from two atoms of hydrogen and a single atom of oxygen. So water, like many other things we see, is nothing but a carefully calibrated mixture of elements. Don’t you think these atoms also have stories of their own? Before they coalesced to form a single unit, they had an individual and unique existence, charting their paths towards a shared destination. They too must have had encounters of their own as their journeys progressed — they could have been a part of another individual, river, or even the ocean! 

The experiment has concluded. Now if possible, try to answer the following questions. What do you feel after being a part of this experiment? Do you feel a sense of interconnectedness and wonder? Do you feel the whole universe is, in some sense, a part of you and vice versa? If you do, even a little, then my experiment was a grand success. Now, why have I called this exceptional quality “An elixir of life”? Because I believe it’s an innate sensation or characteristic within each individual to understand the mysteries of his being – which in turn endows a sense of purpose and zeal to life. In fact, the phenomenon of life itself is nothing but a series of events and experiences, which share an integral part of our being. When we attune ourselves to those experiences with a sense of astonishment, it creates an unfathomable level of awareness in us. That’s when we start asking the real questions, not just about life, but about the essence of existence itself. 

All the exemplary individuals in the past who have etched their mark in history had this amazing quality — to gaze at the infinite potential of a possibility. If Walt Disney hadn’t wondered and dreamed of a world where animated characters could prove to be a source of entertainment, we wouldn’t have the fascinating and lively movies we enjoy today. If Nikola Tesla hadn’t conjured up the endless possibilities of Alternating Current, we wouldn’t be living in this electrified age. If Alexander Fleming hadn’t explored the boundless terrains of the bacterial world, Penicillin may never have saved nor continued to save countless lives. If Leonardo da Vinci had never thought of painting the Mona Lisa, we wouldn’t have such a masterpiece of human art with us.

In the movie, Rise of the Guardians, the character North puts forth a beautiful statement, “Yes! Big eyes, very big, because they are full of wonder. That is my center. It is what I was born with, eyes that have only seen the wonder in everything! Eyes that see lights in the trees and magic in the air. This wonder is what I put into the world, and what I protect in children. It is what makes me a guardian. It is my center, what is yours?”

Suffice it to say, the fulcrum of human existence dates back to an era when humans began to wonder – about the stars, the galaxies, and eventually about their place in the universe. And I’m fairly certain that as long as we feel the inner thirst to explore and expand our creativity, nothing except boundless optimism can quench it. 

Wishing you a wonder-filled life!