These past few weeks have been difficult in the US, and I found myself too wrapped up in the national and local news – the doom and gloom. So in the name of self – preservation I reminded myself to be on the lookout for WONDER – my OLW for January.

On Sunday, my daughter stopped by with my two grandsons for a socially distanced visit to exchange some things we had for each other. When Nolan, age 3, came up the driveway, he searched the blacktop and asked, “Nona, where’s the worm?” You see, the last time he was at our house (several weeks ago) it was after a particularly rainy stretch, and we spent several minutes watching a rather large worm make its way from the lawn, across the driveway, and into the flowerbed. Nolan expected to see that worm again in the same place. Lesson: look with WONDER at the innocent expectations of a child.

Last week we celebrated my grandson Parker’s 7th birthday via Facetime. My daughter made Parker a layer cake that “exploded” with Reese’s Pieces when she cut the first piece. Parker exclaimed, “Mom, you did this for me?!” Lesson: look with WONDER at loving gestures.

Of course, I can’t forget the lessons I learned from my granddaughters, Emma and Isabella (Izzy). My daughter-in-law posted on Instagram a short video of Emma (almost 7) and Izzy (4) commanding Alexa to fart! It was entitled – “Apparently Alexa can do different kinds of farts….Something I wish I never knew!” I couldn’t help but get caught up in the roar of laughter coming from the girls. Lesson: look for WONDER in the unabashed giggles of children.

There is WONDER all around us in the ordinary people, places, and things we passby, overlook, or take for granted each day. Where have you found WONDER this week?

I was mulling over whether or not to choose my OLW (One Little Word) for 2021 or not. In years past my OLW has gone down the same path as my New Year’s resolutions – lost without a GPS. I was definitely leaning towards now choosing a word (I had given up resolutions years ago) until I read “Choosing a Word of the Month in 2021” by Christie Wyman. https://bit.ly/34QyFsf which was posted in the Facebook Group, Teach Write: Helping Teachers Grow as Writers https://www.facebook.com/groups/348136095622823/ If you haven’t checked this group out, you must!

Christie explained in her article how she too had trouble focusing on one word for the entire year, so instead she was going to choose a word for each month instead. I loved the idea and started to imagine what my monthly words could be. Since one of my writing goals for 2021 was to work on a collection of seasonal poetry, I thought I would start there. I chose one word for each season beginning with winter – REFLECT – RENEW – RELAX – REAP, and then looked for inspiring words for each month.

My OLW word for January is WONDER. (N) – feeling of surprise mingled with admiration, caused by something beautiful, unexpected, unfamiliar, or inexplicable. (V) – 1. desire to be curious to know something – 2. feeling doubt.

I have the feeling doubt thing down to a science. It is the other definitions I need to work on. I definitely wonder what the world has in store for 2021, but I want to be curious about life and the people and things that appear in my life. I believe that there are no accidents – everything happens for a reason and a lesson. I want to look at the world through the eyes of wonder, the eyes of a child. So for the rest of the month I am keeping my eyes open to the wonders all around me waiting to be discovered or rediscovered.

He who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is a good as dead; his eyes are closed.

Albert Einstein