This is a story for the closet explorer, the tentative adventurer, the lost child.
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I wasn’t born a nature sprite.
As a child I was happiest spinning tales in worlds of my own creation, belly on wherever floor I had access to, storybooks and encyclopedias on one side, blank paper for my bottomless imagination on the other.
My town didn’t have a mall, it didn’t have a cinema, for that matter it didn’t have a traffic light. We had no cable, and for the longest time no computers or video games either. So for moments when I wasn’t lost in the make-believe world of storybooks and drawings, I splashed around in cold jungle waterfalls, scooped out rainwater and leeches from oilskin tents at school camping trips and shared gossips under shady tamarind trees. My childhood was rich, well-lived and memorable and I wouldn’t trade it for all the Disneylands in the world.
Ironically, as an adult, with all the freedom at my disposal to decide how I spend my days, I find myself more than slightly bothered by this creeping epidemic of secondhand adventuring that I allowed to slip through when I wasn’t looking.
Do you know that strain? It’s when you catch yourself spending countless hours on Instagram wishing you lived in Wyoming or a perfect little English cottage just so your daily feed could look like a Country Style magazine spread, or when Pinterest travel boards were enough to feed your wanderlust and lull you to imagined adventures. Yes that strain. I became intimately acquainted with it before panic set in and I pondered in horror:
Exactly how much of my life was I living vicariously?
I comforted myself with thoughts that at least I had occasional weekend camping trips with the H, evening jaunts up the neighborhood hill to watch the sun set and the once-in-a-full moon midnight walk. But like most folks, my daily life was spent almost entirely indoors, often in front of my computer screen, living out my dreams through others, 5 days out of the week.
I realized I was telling myself I was too busy to take that daily walk, that I had no time to de-screen and poke around outdoors, to lay on my belly and watch ant hills with wide-eyed amazement like the child I used to be. I really wasn’t trying very hard at all to be enchanted daily.
I had allowed comfort and convenience to cocoon my existence and excuses to cloud my heart. But I am fortunate, because life as an artist means that eventually the inner child would cry out, my well of inspiration would run dry, and an existence born of secondhand adventures would one day grow old, which is what happened. Something had to change. I didn’t want to look back on my life in my evening years and remember only those hours I wasted in vicarious living.
Hence the Wonder Ritual was born. I followed the white rabbit out my studio door and there it was-a whole new world of awe-inspiring beauty under my own nose, and what a world! The true magic was not having to venture to exotic lands for it or wrestle with shameful lifestyle envy, I lived it for myself.
The Wonder Ritual: Hideyhole Mornings
I’ve been doing this for a few months now. Three mornings a week, I walk through quaint neighborhood paths lined with succulents and shaded by giant life oak trees to magical spots I call my hideyholes. I currently have three in the neighborhood. One corner of a park strewn with ancient boulders and shady oaks; a tree-lined opening by the railroad; a secret world through a pipe tunnel.
On these mornings, I look around me, I drink in the foggy mornings, the chirpy birds, the distant hills. I glimpse the odd bunny rabbit, call out to the occasional barking dog and stop to smell the blooms.
Some days I’m skipping all the way, and sometimes I drag my feet. But I go. And it is always rewarding.
What I Wanted my Wonder Ritual to Be:
- A time for a bit of childhood play (hideyholes! tree-climbing!)
- Space for a much-needed daily movement to energize the mind and body
- A quiet time to daydream, visualize my goals and reflect on what matters.
- A slowing down of life to observe the tangible world around us and find beauty and magic in it.
- A time to hone my own way of seeing the world through photography and sketching
- Quiet space for journaling or soul-writing
- Quiet space for day-mapping and weekly pilot planning
I started my Wonder Ritual to infuse a little enchantment and inspiration into my daily life but I didn’t anticipate the dramatic changes I would see in almost every aspect of my life in the few months this was in place.
The Unexpected Surprises of a Wonder Ritual :
- It has dramatically changed my mood and temperament for the better, I’m noticeably more cheerful and upbeat, even the dear H remarked on it.
- It has created the stickiest self-motivated workout routine I’ve had in recent years since it was tied to a bigger purpose and activity, resulting in me becoming stronger and fitter by the week.
- ‘Exploring Everyday Symbolism’ (see image above) was born from my real-life observations during my Wonder Ritual. It’s expanding my painting and storytelling language and bringing me new kindred spirits online.
- My adventures are now first-hand. My observations are my own. I create more than I consume. And this is tremendously important for nurturing creativity, originality and innovation.
- A sense of mental clarity and deep inner peace so palpable that I missed it dearly when I went away to vacation. (as I recounted to my Inside the Labyrinth newsletter circle).
- Many seeds of creative ideas were planted while sitting/daydreaming/journaling in my hideyhole!
- Focused time to plan my day + journal, allowing me to accomplish my daily, weekly and quarterly goals with little down time.
- My world has opened up, I’m seeing things I didn’t notice before, and as an artist, it cannot be overstated how important this is.
- The startling realization that this is how good habits are created-when it is fueled by strong purpose and penciled in the calendar.
I cannot say enough how truly truly transformational my Wonder Ritual has been for me and that everyone should have one! It has been my personal and creative anchor in just the few months I’ve been doing it, allowing me to create a sticky, lifelong foundation of habits to build my dreams and goals on.
Create Your Own Wonder Ritual
The Wonder: What can you do to unplug and observe the world around you, indulge your curious inner child? Is there a dog you can walk? A quiet space outside you can journal in? Perhaps even getting up at 6am to watch the world wake up bathed in the golden glow of twilight?
The Purpose: Why is this important to you? Do you like me, find yourself living vicariously too often? Do you want a bit more magic or adventure in your daily life? Is your life so crazy that you just need a bit of me-time to reboot or reflect? What other habit changes would you like to tie to your Wonder Ritual?
The Ritual: How often and how long can you realistically do this so that it’s a small, lifelong change? An hour every morning? 20 minutes every evening? Three times a week? Can you schedule this into your calendar so it happens automatically without excuses?
Some Books to Read for Wonder Ritual Inspiration:
How to Be An Explorer Of the World: Portable Life Museum by Keri Smith (fun activities for your wonder ritual)
On Looking: Eleven Walks with Expert Eyes by Alexandra Horowitz (who you are colors how you see the world, walk in their shoes, an audiobook to listen as you walk)
Daily Rituals: How Artists Work by Mason Currey (be inspired by rituals of famous artists throughout history)
Mary Oliver : At Blackwater Pond ( beautiful poems about nature to open your eyes, another convenient audiobook to listen as you walk)
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I’d love to hear what your Wonder Rituals look like. Do share with me below and help create a treasure trove of Wonder Rituals for everyone to explore!
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NEWS: I’m working on a mini-collection of paintings inspired by my Prince Edward Island trip coming up in the next few weeks! If you’re not subscribed to my monthly journal of enchantment, sign up below for the key to enter my Secret Garden, my private inspiration sanctuary where I open up my sketchbooks and reveal sketches and resources inspiring my most current work-musings shown nowhere else. Happening right now in there are behind-the-scenes deliciousness shaping my PEI/Anne-inspired paintings! Nourishment for the creative soul, hope to see you there.