One of my most favorite stories is about being astonished. It’s both a vivid example that puts a smile onto your face – while making you think at the same time.
A good friend of mine is father of a 2 year old. One day, he took his son to the local zoo. So far so good, it’s always a fun place to go for kids. But when the young kid discovered a group of flamingos, he just could not believe his own eyes. Birds in full, bright, pink color. Never had he seen such a thing in his life. Fully astonished, he was speechless and looked up to his father, for whom it was a rather normal thing. Flamingos are just flamingos after all.
The kid, still stunned from the colorful experience, could not believe how everyone else was not super excited. Do they not see what he sees? Look! There! Giant birds. Giant pink birds. How can everybody else just walk by?! How can they possibly not react the same way as he does, full of amazement?
In my case: Just when you sometimes think that you have seen it all, when you start to miss how being astonished actually feels like, when you envy the small kid who still has an entire world of discoveries in front of him: One of the worlds biggest aquarium. With three giant, 12 meter whale sharks that swim through this amazingly blue scenery. Just some feet in front of you.
Seen at the “Churaumi Aquarium” in Okinawa/Japan. I spend one hour right in front of the big glass walls of the aquarium. Not saying a word. Hypnotized by the calm movements of those living giants. Being, I guess, astonished. Realizing: Somewhere, there are still pink flamingo in your life. You just don’t find them that often any more I guess.
Was macht Kai? 