Wonder can feel like something that simply happens to you, a state you fall into rather than one you can invite. That is partly true; you cannot force awe. But the conditions that make it more likely are largely within your reach, and a few habits reliably make an ordinary day more available to it. Given how good wonder turns out to be for a person, learning to invite it is worth the small effort.
Slow down enough to actually perceive
The first requirement is pace. Wonder needs unhurried time, because most people move through ordinary experience too fast to actually encounter it. The habituation that produces efficiency also filters the world into categories and keeps it at a managed distance. Deliberately slowing down, even for a few minutes, thins that filter and lets the actual texture of things come through. You cannot notice much at speed.
Seek out what genuinely produces awe
Awe is reliably triggered by certain things, and you can put yourself in their path on purpose. Research finds that experiences of awe, especially in nature, are associated with real benefits and can be deliberately sought rather than only waited for (Anderson, Monroy & Keltner, 2018). A vast landscape, a piece of music that moves you, a field of knowledge that exceeds your grasp, a night sky. You do not have to wait for awe to find you. You can go where it tends to live.
Savor what is already good
Beyond seeking new awe, you can extend the good that is already present. Research on savoring, the practice of deliberately attending to and prolonging positive experience, finds that people who savor report more frequent and intense positive emotion (Bryant & Veroff, 2007). When something good happens, even small, give it a beat of full attention instead of rushing on. Notice the coffee, the light, the moment of connection. Savoring is wonder applied to the ordinary, and it is trainable.
Treat your delight as information
When something genuinely moves you, take it seriously rather than dismissing it as trivial. Delight points at something real about what matters to you and about what is actually there. Following it, letting the thing that caught your attention have your attention, is how the day opens up. The instinct to override your own wonder in favor of getting on with things is exactly what flattens experience.
Reduce what dulls it
Wonder is permeable, and some things get through and thin it out. Relentless urgency, constant input, and the company of reflexive cynicism all erode the openness wonder requires. You do not have to eliminate these, but noticing when they are crowding out your capacity to be affected, and creating some space without them, gives wonder room to return.
Let it be, rather than making it useful
The fastest way to lose wonder is to demand it produce something, to turn the beautiful encounter into content or the interesting thing into a project. Let the noticing be the point. Wonder often does generate things later, but it does so best when it is not being mined for output in the moment.
You cannot manufacture awe, but you can make an ordinary day far more hospitable to it: slow down, seek what genuinely moves you, savor what is already good, and let your delight count. The world is more interesting than habit lets it appear. These habits are how you keep getting to see it.
References
Anderson, C. L., Monroy, M., & Keltner, D. (2018). Awe in nature heals: Evidence from military veterans, at-risk youth, and college students. Emotion, 18(8), 1195–1202.
Bryant, F. B., & Veroff, J. (2007). Savoring: A New Model of Positive Experience. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
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