wonder

[Sandra Dodd]

     There is not a sprig of grass that shoots uninteresting to me.
        -- Thomas Jefferson 

I just got this quote from an e-mail bulletin from

Old House Gardens, 536 Third St., Ann Arbor, MI 48103, (734) 995-1486

I'll put their plug since I lifted their quote.

They liked it to be about Spring and plants, I guess.

I see it as a fascination with anything and everything.

Thomas Jefferson is considered one of the brightest men ever.  He was some kind of engineering genius, and if you get to visit the house and outbuildings he designed and built, Monticello....    well here:  http://www.monticello.org/house/index.html

So back to Jefferson.  He was also a writer who could change the world, and did.

Yet with all that going on, he also said (or probably wrote)  "There is not a sprig of grass that shoots uninteresting to me."

He was interested in everything.

That quality of thought is known as "wonder."

Here's some more on that.

http://sandradodd.com/wonder

Any reader of this list who feels life at her house is a little dull or boring or staid should reconsider her own attitude toward the world, toward TV, video games, websites about plantations in Virginia, and blades of grass.

Something is probably coming up in your yard right now.  (offer not guaranteed in Australia or New Zealand...)

Sandra

[Susan]

Sandra wrote:
> They liked it to be about Spring and plants, I guess.

> I see it as a fascination with anything and everything. <snip>

> Any reader of this list who feels life at her house is a little dull or
> boring or staid should reconsider her own attitude toward the world, toward
> TV, video games, websites about plantations in Virginia, and blades of
> grass. Something is probably coming up in your yard right now.

Speaking of Spring and being open to wonder...

We have had weeks of bright, sunny hot weather - the kinds that
requires tanktops, sandals, large glasses of ice water and rests in
the shade. This week, however, a strong cold front has moved in. We
had saved up our $$ to buy some phlox and pansies for our new house so
we went to the garden center this evening and while we were standing
there picking out flowers a snowstorm hit. All of a sudden big, giant
fluffy flakes were peppering down on us and within a few minutes there
was easily an inch of snow - it was just crazy!

An impromptu snowball fight broke out (it was falling so fast and
heavy that we could have built a snowman) and for about 20 minutes we
forgot about the flowers and just ran around playing and laughing in
the snow. I noticed other people were grumbling and complaining about
the weather but we thought it was delightful.

-- Susan

[kbcdl...@aol.com]

-----Original Message-----
From:
nor...@googlegroups.com=================================================
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TOPIC: wonder
http://groups.google.com/group/UnschoolingDiscussion/browse_thread/thread/1168ef7a9195127e?hl=en
=========================================================================
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== 1 of 2 ==
Date: Fri, Apr 6 2007 4:24 pm
From: Sandra Dodd

There is not a sprig of grass that shoots uninteresting to me.
-- Thomas Jefferson

<SNIP>

Thomas Jefferson is considered one of the brightest men ever. He was
some kind of engineering genius, and if you get to visit the house
and outbuildings he designed and built, Monticello.... well here:
http://www.monticello.org/house/index.html

So back to Jefferson. He was also a writer who could change the
world, and did.

Yet with all that going on, he also said (or probably wrote) "There
is not a sprig of grass that shoots uninteresting to me."

He was interested in everything.

That quality of thought is known as "wonder."

-=-=-=-=

I'm asked all the time how I got interested or involved in
such-and-such (lately: bees, fencing, gardening, architecture, music,
horses, dogs, places, people, events, the conference, unschooling,
etc.).

I just can't imagine NOT being interested in a lot. There's so much I
don't know (even though I'm always right. <bwg>).

But when they ask, I say that I'm fascinated by a LOT of things. Aren't
they? How can you NOT be? The world is sooo BIG! There's just sooo much
to learn! I get ridiculously excited about everything.

~Kelly

Kelly Lovejoy
Conference Coordinator
Live and Learn Unschooling Conference
http://www.LiveandLearnConference.org

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[Janet]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/04/AR2007040401721.html?hpid=topnews

Many people in our busy society have lost their wonder.

Janet

[Sandra Dodd]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/04/
AR2007040401721.html?hpid=topnews

-=-Many people in our busy society have lost their wonder.-=-

But the little kids hadn't.

That's a long article, but worth reading for anyone interested in
art, psychology, how things are valued, context, culture, self
esteem, finances <g>...

There's also duty and responsibility, though. Probably lots of those
people were going to meet someone and didn't want the other person to
have to wait, or they had the keys to the place they were going, and
things like that. Faulting them all seems harsh.

Thanks for bringing that, Janet.

Sandra

[Jennifer Beman White]

>
> http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/04/
> AR2007040401721.html?hpid=topnews
>
>
> -=-Many people in our busy society have lost their wonder.-=-
>

Maybe, but to some extent I think it's how we are wired. We decide what to
pay attention to and then everything else doesn't exist. Without that
ability, the cacophony of the world would be overwhelming. It's inspiring,
in a way, because if you can choose what to notice, you can make world into
whatever you want.