Writing Resources from Fifteen Minutes of Fiction

Wonder vs. The Daily Grind

As we age we adapt to our world. We get used to our jobs. We get used to getting up at 8am sharp hopping in the shower, brushing our teeth, getting breakfast, and leaving home for another day. It’s a pattern. We quickly fall into them and they take hold because this is what they are supposed to do. Our minds are built for patterns and abstraction. When I ask you to brush your teeth you will probably do it the same way you have done it for 10, 20, 30 years. It’s a pattern you use everyday.

But there is a problem with patterns and abstracting ideas away. It takes away the tiny and amazing details of every day life. If I mention an object like a snowflake your mind will conjure up a bland memory of a white crystal like object. What you don’t remember are all the snowflakes you have ever seen and the infinite detail in them. If you just look at the snow coming down and don’t bother to look at any of the snowflakes then of course it’s going to be boring because all you have is the general, bland, all encompassing idea of “snowflake” in your mind.

And this is why children, more often than adults, get a sense of wonder because they see the tiny details in things, which is amazing. Children do not have all of these patterns built yet and so they need to see everything from every angle. Usually once these patterns are built people don’t bother to look at the small things any longer. They have seen them once, they know what they are, why bother? Why bother? Because if you don’t you’ll miss out on a lot of beautiful and awesome things.

So try to break patterns and ideas in your life from day to day and I think you’ll find there are some amazing things going on in your every day life.

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