One thing we seem to lose as we make the transition from childhood to adulthood is our easy sense of wonder. I still remember very clearly the feeling when I was six years of encountering a forest in the summer just after the rain had stopped, or lying on my back looking up at the sea of stars at night, or watching a hot air balloon take off and sail gently away into the afternoon air.
I didn’t think “I know how that works,” or “Here is this fits into my idea of science / eternity / The Universe / God …” I just took in the magic of it all, and felt pure wonder.
There are times when I can still do that. But it’s harder now. My head has become crowded with thoughts of what needs to be done, which tribes I belong to, the urge to attach significance to everything.
Sometimes I think that as we leave childhood, we are in continual danger of forgetting one of the most important aspects of our existence — our boundless capacity for wonder. If we can just manage to hold on to that one superpower, while also embracing the complementary superpowers of our adult minds, just think of the wonderful world we could create for each other.