Sensation is the birthplace of wonder in my life. Nothing awes me more than those moments when sound, sight, smell, or feel reveals the underlying beauty of existence that we so often take for granted in our hurry to reach our ends. I find wonder to be a state of mind as much as a feeling, when the senses are heightened, the mind is in-tune with the body, and the barrier between self and world is dissolved ever so slightly. When I allow the stressors, pains, worries, anxieties, memories, electronics, insecurities, and turmoil to fall away, there is wonder in the resulting freedom. When all the baggage is gone and there is only the moment to appreciate, the wonder in every motion becomes clear. How many trillions of cells operate in harmony to support a sweep of the hand, to allow my eye to marvel at the arc, and for my skin to feel the displaced air as the motion comes to rest? How many generations of chance or fate leading to my being in this instant, how many more moments and generations to come, how many thoughts of how many moments in any single moment? The miracle of consciousness and existence are such that when they are remembered, I have no choice but to marvel at the ground beneath my feet, the air within my lungs with every breath, the pulse of the heart that keeps me sustained. When I close my eyes, I am back on a beach, friend by my side, ocean at my ankles, stars in the sky, wonder in my veins. I blink, and I am standing on a mountaintop, the vastness of the forested hills rolling out before me, the light and shadow dancing through the thicket to illuminate the soil underfoot, wonder spread across the horizon. Open my eyes, and I am present, at my desk, hands on keyboard, gentle music filling the air, clock keeping time, and breathe still coming. I am alive, and every moment is an opportunity to recognize the wonder in existence that never truly leaves us, but simply lies in wait for us to remember how to claim it.
Patrick Seebold, North Carolina
Student
Patrick Seebold, North Carolina
Student