Movement

What does it say about someone who can’t be amazed anymore—depression has set in, cynicism and skepticism have taken over? Somehow, they’ve “seen it all,” and there’s just nothing new under the sun? Sounds like a lousy place to live, if it can be called living.

I can’t imagine day after day of going without at least a moment or two of revelation or discovery. Maybe a good New Year’s resolution would be to learn one new thing every day. There would actually be no shortage of things to learn. Pick up a newspaper, a world almanac (if they still publish such things), think of a topic and Google it, or just go to a dictionary and learn a new word.

Take a walk, walk backwards, look around, sit at a spot where land meets water, pay someone a compliment, open a door for someone, look up on a clear winter night, smell the air, try a new recipe, get a complete physical, ask for help, dust off a camera, pick up that guitar that probably needs a good tuning, start learning a second or third language, give War and Peace another try, go ice fishing and learn how to filet a perch… or not.

Make plans for a garden, build a work bench, call or text or email a friend… Wow, this quickly morphed into a stock, sappy New Year’s laundry list. Sorry.

You know what I mean, though. New and different and reconnection can be good things. It’s an amazing world, whether or not we currently think so.