SEASON'S GREETINGS!

I wish all my visitors and loyal followers from all over the world—more than 80 countries—the very best of this season. For us Christians, that means MERRY CHRISTMAS! (para mis hispanohablantes amigos, ¡FELIZ NAVIDAD!) For my Jewish friends, it's HAPPY HANUKKAH! For all of us here in the northern hemisphere, HAPPY WINTER SOLSTICE! 

Here's to longer, brighter days. To kinder, gentler care for each other and our precious planet. To noticing and celebrating small wonders!

Whatever your celebration, may these days be kind to you, your families and your loved ones. May they bring you new awareness, wonder and gratitude!

THANKS A MILLION!

You're looking at...well, reading from...a million-seller! That's right, One Man's Wonder has just registered its one-millionth page view.

Originally an effort to promote my book (Under the Wild Ginger*—about noticing and celebrating small wonders) One Man's Wonder has come to mean so much more to me. 

The greatest reward has been hearing from folks who say one of my posts moved or encouraged them. Another is seeing the sheer reach of my little endeavor. A world map on my studio wall bristles with push pins for every country that's home to at least one of my readers—85 countries so far. I'm like some big-shot business mogul taking stock of their empire.

      Your comments fuel what I've always hoped
      would be more a dialog than a lecture. 

SELFISH ENDS
There's also a therapeutic benefit, the escape my writing has afforded me from the extraordinary stresses of life these days: the pandemic; a near-constant assault of troubling world news; and the shameful assault on truth, decency and democracy being waged here at home.

And I'll admit it; I need affirmation as much as the next person. So knowing my blog reaches a growing audience is gratifying. But the numbers are far less important to me than the sense of connection I feel with all of you. Best of all, your comments fuel what I've always hoped would be more a dialog than a lecture.

Thank you to everyone who's knocked at this virtual doorway to small wonders, especially those who've walked in, stayed a while and, perhaps, shared a bit of yourself here.

CASHING IN
Once in a great while I wonder if I should have monetized my blog. You know, allowed a few small ads, maybe worked some product plugs into my posts. If I'd chosen that route from the get-go, and managed to eke a buck from every visit, I'd be a millionaire, right?

But that's never been a real option; it's just not true to the spirit of this work. I mean here's a one-time professional writer, well into retirement, who's lucky enough to still be writing—and still be read. If you ask me, that's a pretty fine reward. It's not—never has been—about the money.

So, again, thank you for your virtual presence here, many of you becoming what I consider by now to be old friends. Please, if you like what you read, share the wealth on social media, and mention One Man's Wonder to your friends and family.

* To order signed copies of Under the Wild Ginger – A Simple Guide To the Wisdom of Wonder—at a special "Thanks a million" price of $9.95 each—email me at jeff@willius.com

THANKS HALF A MILLION!

WOW! Half a million visits!

If I had a nickel for everyone who’s dropped in here at my One Man’s Wonder blog, I’d still be poor. But it’s not about the money; it’s about the sense of connection with people—from 77 countries so far—who share my passion for noticing and celebrating small wonders.

Keep checking out my occasional ramblings, and keep walking in your own ways of wonder.

Many thanks to all!

HOPE IN A SNOWFLAKE – A New Years Eve Reflection

One of the innumerable reasons I count myself such a lucky man is the warm, wise, witty group of friends Sally and I have been fortunate enough to celebrate New Year's Eve with for the past decade or so.

Tonight, I've got to admit, I wasn't so sure I could be fully present with anyone via Zoom. But the kindness, creativity and openness—the preciousness—of these particular people cut through all the "remote"-ness and touched my heart. Ruth, Dan, Marty, Gary, Kathy, Randy, thank you for a wonderful evening!

One of the highlights of our New Year's together was sharing our reflections on the evening's theme: hope. Each of us shared a very personal take on the topic, from the reflective to the musical to the challenging to the poetic.

Here is the piece I wrote for the occasion:

HOPE IN A SNOWFLAKE

What is hope? Is it anticipation? Expectation? And where’s it located? Is it all about something happening way off in the future? Must it always be about the future?

Spiritual teacher Eckhart Tolle likes to say, because the past has already happened, and the future hasn’t yet, that neither exists. That the only time that’s real is now.

So, what does hope look like, not when it’s about some distant outcome, but closer to now?

Well, of course there’s the kind with a capital H, that big, existential kind that’s just out there somewhere. But the small-h, everyday kind—is grounded in the here and now, resting not as much in fate as in our own hands, heart and spirit.

It’s really a choice we make, like love or happiness. But more like surrender, cut of the same cloth as faith.

If big-H Hope is the distant glow at the end of the tunnel, small-h hope is lighting candles in the darkness.

In these discouraging times, we need all the hope we can get—both kinds. Big-H Hope to put out there in the Universe as our sacred intention for ourselves and the world.

And small-h hope, which is often just putting one foot in front of the other. It’s there in the smallest details, minutia that might slip right past us if we’re less than fully present to call it what it is.

What is hope?
It’s a rustling in the brush along the bank of Peasley’s Slough
A glint of light through the forest ahead promising the end of the portage
Kneeling down to check the thickness of the ice
Swiping on a little blue kicker over your glide coat
Casting into that deep eddy just downstream from a rock point
Sticking out your tongue for a snowflake

It’s walking out with your choir onto the stage
Composing that exotic, dream itinerary
Readying your craft space with papers, scissors and glue
Checking how many students have shown up in your Zoom waiting room
Wrapping your finished lampshade arc around the rings
And it’s watching the garage door open and wanting so much for your partner’s car to be there.

There is hope in all these things, all of them signs of wonders about to happen.

So, as we face a new year, still groping our way through this tunnel of fear and uncertainty, may we take comfort in the glow we see at the end, and light those little candles. 

May we seek and find hope everywhere. Yes, up in the sky, in the big picture of what might lie ahead for us. But let us also find it in the moment, in the common, the constant. In each small wonder, each fleeting thought, each precious moment of the new year.

 I wish all my visitors and loyal followers from all over the world—76 countries
so far—the very best of this season. For us Christians, that means MERRY CHRISTMAS! (para mis amigos hispanohablantes, ¡FELIZ NAVIDAD!) For my Jewish friends, it's HAPPY HANUKKAH! For all of us here in the northern hemisphere, it's HAPPY WINTER SOLSTICE! 

Whatever your celebration, may these days be kind to you, your families and your loved ones. May they bring you new awareness, wonder and gratitude!

SEASON'S GREETINGS!

I wish all my visitors and loyal followers from all over the world—75 countries so far—the very best of this season. For us Christians, that means MERRY CHRISTMAS! (para mis hispanohablantes amigos, ¡FELIZ NAVIDAD!) For my Jewish friends, it's HAPPY HANUKKAH! For all of us here in the northern hemisphere, it's HAPPY WINTER SOLSTICE! 

Whatever your celebration, may these days be kind to you, your families and your loved ones. May they bring you new awareness, wonder and gratitude!

THE BAGGY COAT – A Holiday Reflection

During this season of generosity swirling with obligation, of simple joy made sad by unmet expectation, of grateful abundance diminished by addictive excess, I'm trying on, once more, the baggy coat of acceptance, a garment whose fit depends on not its own but the wearer's measure.

         

What do you need to accept or let go of to let the simple, joyous spirit of the holidays wrap comfortably around you?

WEAR YOUR WONDER! – Free T-Shirt Offer

To celebrate the last official month of summer, I thought about offering an all-expenses-paid trip around the world in search of wonder. Then I remembered my own mantra:  wonder's not something you have to go on a quest for; all you have to do is make room for it and it finds you—no matter where or who or what age you are.

So when it does, just to make sure it recognizes you as a genuine wonderer, here's something that will help – our own part-rebus I (eye) WONDER! t-shirt. Want one? It's absolutely free.

       DO YOU WONDER? WEAR IT PROUDLY!

For your free I (eye)WONDER! t-shirt, all I ask is a moment's thought and 
an answer to this question: 

       How do you make room for wonder in your life 
       and the lives of your kids and/or grandkids? 
 
Send your answer(s):

• By commenting here on this post
• On my Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/jeffrey.willius) 
• On my Twitter feed (@OneMansWonder)
• By email (jeff@willius.com)

However you respond, please make sure I can get in touch with you to get your mailing address and your shirt size (kids' SM through adult XXL).

That's all there is to it. Can't wait to hear from you!
Please keep in mind that quantities/sizes are limited.  -  Sorry, but I have to limit the offer to folks with mailing addresses in the USA. -  One entry per person please.

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY! – Make It Wonder-full!

These long summer holiday weekends, it's easy to lose sight of what the occasion's really all about. Sure, the Fourth is about fun. After all, it's a celebration, a cherished opportunity to spend a few of these long, languid days just being outdoors, having fun with people we love, and eating our way into a long nap in a hammock.

But the fourth is also a time for gratitude—an appreciation of living in this great, fiercely independent nation whose liberty was hard won two-and-a-half centuries ago. I try never to lose sight of this, even though that liberty is awfully easy to take for granted, since it's only rarely been challenged since—and even more rarely on our own soil.*

The Fourth of July also has come to represent a passage into summer, especially for those of us living in northern climes. (I think we can be fairly sure it won't snow now!) So let's be aware of all those little wonders that make this season such a blessing.

Here are just a few of the small wonders I plan to notice and appreciate as if I were experiencing them for the very first time:

• The way kernels of fresh sweet corn pop as my teeth plow through them
• The pulsing sizzle of a hot meadow teeming with life
• How my skin smells toasted in sunny, sultry air

 

• The pink crystalline coolness of watermelon chilled in the creek
• The misty echo up and down the river valley of a big aerial bomb's boom

• Water – that amazing clear, cool, flowing substance that both sustains and entertains

• A bluegill's arresting colors and texture and spiny dorsal fin
• The magical, winking syncopation of firefly glow with cricket chirp
• The sweet, evocative smell of freshly mown grass
• The faces of my grandchildren as they too experience wonder

 

What little wonders will you be 
ready to embrace this Fourth of 
July weekend?





* It saddens me to note the deeply troubling undercurrent to this year's otherwise joyous celebration of Independence Day. Never in my long life have I been as deeply concerned about the state of my country. 
We've elected a shallow, narcissistic, willfully ignorant reality-show host as president. His yes-men appointees, as well as majorities in both houses of Congress seem hell-bent on turning the nation's back on our responsibilities—not just to the rest of the world, but to the poorest, most vulnerable of our own countrymen. In six months we've become the laughing stock of the world.
Instead of America's trademark optimism, drive and inspired leadership, we're retreating into a cowardly shell of fear, enabling shameless opportunism by a visionless, doom-and-gloom ruling oligarchy. 
It is nothing less than an assault on our country's founding principles and on much of the hard-won cultural evolution we've achieved during my lifetime. 

 

MILESTONES – 100th Post - Thank you!

It seems like just yesterday that I first stuck my toe into this blogging ocean. The first of October last year, I posted So This Ant Walks Into a Bar. It got one comment.

At that time, I was grateful just for the support of my family and a few of my closest friends who dutifully came to see what Jeff's new diversion was all about.

Eight months, 100 posts, 7,500 page views and 61 countries later, I'm feeling pretty encouraged. Think I'll stick with it!

And speaking of encouragement, that, besides the joy I find in the writing, is really what's kept me going—from those requisite visits of loved ones, to the small leaps of faith made by my followers, to the cherished relationships I've formed with fellow bloggers, authors and other kindred spirits. This online community is amazingly generous and kind-spirited.

Thank you, everyone! I'll make you a deal: you keep checking in at One Man's Wonder and share your favorite posts with others; I redouble my efforts to keep posting reflections and inspiration worthy of your interest.  
Deal?

HOW TO BE IN THE MOMENT – 101 Little Tips

 TIP #74

Celebrate your own footsteps.

Feet ... those poor, thankless servants, ever first to shoulder the load, ever last to see the sun. Yet, above the quiet toil, they proclaim their joy—if only we allow them, and listen.

    Let your steps whisper through dry autumn leaves. Encourage their earnest crunch on dried acorns, their squeals of delight compressing dry snow. Indulge their mischievous cracking of ice edges undercut by melt water. Abide the thin chatter of a kicked pebble. 
    Celebrate their joy and yours, not just in getting somewhere, but in the going.