I want to talk about three concepts.
The first is what happens when you repeat the same word over and over again, known as semantic satiation. This is “the psychological phenomenon in which repetition causes a word or phrase to temporarily lose meaning for the listener, who then perceives the speech as repeated meaningless sounds.” This concept is relatable to the repetitive schedules we abide by in our daily lives, whether it be our routines in getting ready for school, work, school or work themselves, or what we do on Friday nights/Saturday mornings. We have done these same things the same way for such an extended amount of times they have lost some of their value, uniqueness, and original meaning. Now hold that thought.
The second concept is that what goes into a moment that makes it. For example, you’re in line to order a sandwich for lunch and notice a manager poorly treating employees who are quickly becoming angry. The lunch line continues to grow, which you can see is adding to the employees’ stress levels; they are so overloaded and angry their priorities aren’t quite on making the perfect sandwich. You move up to the front of the line and are greeted hastily by a worker, but you know it isn’t anything personal. You order just a simple ham and cheese sandwich on white bread to make it easy for them, then move down the “sandwich assembly line” watching your meal be made. You noticed the cheese get ripped on its way to your sandwich, then clumped back together to not waste it for the sake of the intimidating manager. Next, you’re shorted a slice of ham but don’t want to say anything because the kitchen staff is a ticking time-bomb. Lastly, they gave you wheat bread instead of white because the worker’s mind was on the massive amount of homework they have to do after they leave this dungeon. You unenthusiastically pay for your sandwich, and it’s thoughtlessly tossed at you with a sarcastic “have a nice day.” You sit down, open your sandwich, and look at it. The sandwich itself is still edible, but the pure hatred, anger, and carelessness that went into it makes it a little more unappetizing.
On the contrary, you could go into that same sandwich shop when it’s not too busy and see an old friend from school that recently started working there. You catch up with them a little bit and you’re both doing well. They remembered from lunch in high school that you like extra meat on your sandwiches, so they decide to go ham on this yeast feast and make a special concoction exactly like your mom used to make for you without even saying anything. You’re marveled at their kindness and thoughtfulness, and wonder what your experience might have been like if that person wasn’t working there, or if you went somewhere else for lunch. That’s the third concept I want to bring into this picture: wonder. Wonder is “a feeling of surprise mingled with admiration, caused by something beautiful, unexpected, unfamiliar, or inexplicable.” There’s always something to wonder about, even in this day and age of continuously repeating our actions and words. Even if you leave your house at the exact same time every single day, go to school the same way every single day, and have the same classes multiple times a week, wonder is what points out and makes you appreciate the differences. If you didn’t wonder about the world, you wouldn’t be paying attention and actively appreciating that the sun might not be up at the same time every day, or that it’s rainy or snowy. The fact that even though many others are on the same schedule as well but you don’t see the same people throughout your daily travels might have not even crossed your mind.
There is a different backstory to everything which is composed of different emotions and combinations of actions that lead something to their given circumstances at any single moment; this stands true for everyone and everything. Even if you’re working the same assembly line job and 1,000 identical pieces of plastic pass you as you press the same button 1,000 times a day, there’s so many different things going into each aspect of that. You’re thinking and wondering about different things each time you press that button, each piece of plastic has its own place of origin, and even if some were made in the same place, there’s a whole other backstory to where they existed prior to that. It’s the “I wonder if a dinosaur stepped on the contents that eventually were recycled or made into this piece of plastic,” that give it new meaning. Even if you don’t know the answer, it’s about what could go into that thing or moment that makes it what it is. Since some astonishing possibilities exist, that piece of plastic could be a lot cooler than you could have originally ever perceived it. Wonder is what is able to bring about a new level of appreciation for a moment that makes it unique, therefore less repetitive and more meaningful. Some of these things could even end up proven being true as well.
Wrapping up, in the time that I have been typing this, there have been people that: saw the big dipper for the first time, noticed the moon had craters, caught their first fish, caught their second shark, are celebrating a little boy’s first birthday party, are figuring out a name for their soon to be born daughter, played freeze tag, learned what a ball is, have thought about JFK, made a large crowd of people laugh, put contact lenses in for the first time, are thinking about Bigfoot, and are in the middle of a game of hide and seek.
All these things are going on RIGHT NOW in this world as you sit on the internet, bored senseless. Take a step back from your everyday, repetitive concoction and consider the awe and wonder some people are experiencing as you yourself read and experience this in different ways. One day someone who doesn’t even know you exist yet might be wondering about you.
