In the too-rarely-seen Disney movie Meet the Robinsons, the aptly-named Bowler Hat Guy greets a captive audience with these breathless words: “Prepare to be AMAZED!”
There’s wisdom in there. We, as a culture, aren’t amazed often enough. We’re frequently amused, occasionally impressed, and rarely speechless. Maybe part of it is that we don’t “prepare” to be amazed. We coast through life with our eyes half-lidded, wondering how we can tweet ironically about what we come across in our daily excursions through life and the web.
Maybe our lives would be a little better if we spent a few minutes Preparing to Be Amazed, by doing some of the following:
- Stop and admit to yourself that you haven’t seen or thought of it all.
- Quit comparing everything to what you’ve seen before and take it for what it is in and of itself.
- Look at art, listen to music, read poetry.
- Make friends with people who are amazed by reality.
- Veer slightly off the beaten path.
- Touch things you normally only look at.
- Open your eyes a little wider.
- Look in the faces of strangers.
It’s possible to be amazed. Prepare for it, and it will come more easily.