One of my favorite aunts who lives in Colombia likes to send me videos through Whats App. Recently, she sent me a video of a man from Spain who was describing a scenario that took place inside of a 3rd grade classroom.
During the week, the teacher had been discussing the 7 wonders of the world. The students had seen pictures, identified the countries where they existed, and talked about what made each of these places such a wonder.
Towards the end of the week, the teacher wanted to assess what the students had learned and retained from the weeks discussion so she asked them to list the 7 wonders they could remember on a piece of paper. After a certain amount of time, all of the students had written something down except for one girl who seemed to be thinking and still working on writing down her answers. The teacher noticed the girl and asked her if she needed more time. A few seconds later, the girl wrote one more thing on her paper and smiled while she replied to her teacher that she was finished. Intrigued, the teacher asked the girl if she would like to share with the class what she had written. The girl said yes and began listing them off one by one.
She said, “the 7 wonders of the world are that we can see, hear, taste, touch, smell, laugh, and love.
When I finished watching this video, I felt a warmth in my heart and smile on my face. This is exactly what mindfulness is all about. It's about noticing all of the things that we so easily take for granted, but that are actually the things that make us alive and human.
When we connect with these 7 wonders, we are reminded of how amazing it is that we have the ability to:
see such beauty all around us in people, nature, and in man-made creations
hear songs and melodies that move us
taste the deliciousness of all the foods we have to choose from that are so readily available
touch things and people that comfort and soothe us
smell different aromas that the earth provides that calm and excite us
The ability to laugh and love are the added bonuses to being human. We can choose to engage in these two wonders as often or as seldom as we want to. Since most everyone I know loves to laugh and loves to feel loved then doesn't it make sense for us to go ahead and include these with our other 5 senses?
Anytime you are feeling down and out, bored, anxious, numb, or disconnected from others, take out a piece of paper, write down these 7 wonders of the world and make a list of how you can engage with each of them. Then afterwards, notice how you feel. Chances are you might just feel more wonderful.
Here is my list:
see: photography exhibits and stare at glorious trees in Portland parks
hear: music I like and people's voices when they speak to me
taste: juicy berries I eat in the morning with yogurt and honey and everything else I mindfully eat
touch: soft blanket on my couch when I'm relaxing and massage my scalp in the shower
smell: mint mate tea I drink in the morning and the ginger citrus soap bar I'm using right now to wash my body
laugh: watch Master of None (funny netflix show that my new friend just introduced me to)
love: write thank you and miss you letters to friends and family