The Awe Factor by Allen Klein

Author:Allen Klein
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Mango Media
Published: 2020-11-03T00:00:00+00:00

Something Special

One day, I was watching a father hold his just-turned-one-year-old. The boy was facing outward and enthralled by everything that came his way. When someone came toward him, he lit up with a great big smile. When his father moved his hand in front of the child, the one-year-old smiled again joyfully trying to grab it. When there was a noise nearby, it brought another smile to the child’s face.

Everything awed him. Even ordinary, everyday things were a new discovery for him.

What I got to witness was what Zen Buddhism labels as “seeing the world with a beginner’s mind.” And we don’t need to be a one-year-old to find the awe in the world. In Secrets Kids Know…That Adults Oughta Learn, I write about a retired schoolteacher who I saw on a television show years ago. She took young children on hikes on the hills near San Francisco.

What was so unusual about the outings was the way she delighted in a childlike sense of discovery. She would frequently stop to point out what she called “something special” to the kids. A ladybug: “Look, something special.” An orange poppy: “Look, something special.” The dew on a blade of grass: “Look, something special.” Even a plain gray rock or an ordinary weed was special.

Of course, the roles could have been reversed and the kids could have easily shown the elderly lady all of the things around them that were indeed “special” because they often see the world with fresh eyes. But the TV show (which was about people who volunteered) was really for adults who often miss the specialness of seemingly ordinary things. Young kids, on the other hand, often see the wonder in things that grown-ups take for granted.

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