Wonder and the sublime
![A painting of a woman sitting at a table with a glass of beer, a cigarette, and a contemplative expression in a café setting.](https://images.aeonmedia.co/images/1643da50-408d-40ee-bc38-b96543581605/original.jpg?width=3840&quality=75&format=auto)
Love
idea
Why it can be sublime to love someone who doesn’t love you back
Unrequited love might be bitter and painful, but it is also the ultimate expression of your humanity. Don’t fight it
by Alexandra Gustafson
![](https://images.aeonmedia.co/images/f8ed9684-98f5-4035-a454-5f90e351d257/original.jpg?width=3840&quality=75&format=auto)
Learning and education
idea
Why good teachers allow a child’s mind to wander and wonder
The experience of wonder is essential to the task of education – it opens up the world. That’s why teachers should foster it
by Anders Schinkel
![](https://images.aeonmedia.co/images/af5e678b-7829-4f7c-9724-5a9c0a68f8af/original.jpg?width=3840&quality=75&format=auto)
Thinking and intelligence
guide
How to foster ‘shoshin’
It’s easy for the mind to become closed to new ideas. Cultivating a beginner’s mind helps us rediscover the joy of learning
by Christian Jarrett
![](https://images.aeonmedia.co/images/03020a2e-4604-4ed8-a416-3268fd2014f5/original.jpg?width=3840&quality=75&format=auto)
Poetry
film
Irish hills, folk music and David Whyte’s poetry form a fleeting, meditative moment
Directed by Andrew Hinton
![](https://images.aeonmedia.co/images/7b1c6b1b-df3b-4691-8569-0963e1ea70a6/original.jpg?width=3840&quality=75&format=auto)
Wonder and the sublime
idea
Is the sublime a hopelessly old-fashioned Euro-Romantic ideal?
The sublime is not only for the Romantics, nor just about gender or overcoming nature. It’s in the thrills-and-chills of emotion
by Robert Clewis
![A person walking on a fallen tree trunk in a dense, lush forest with tall trees and abundant greenery.](https://images.aeonmedia.co/images/66073bad-b4d6-485b-a9f3-25c89662b0e6/rt-this-gettyimages-960978428.jpg?width=3840&quality=75&format=auto)
Transcendent experience
idea
Do you find the 21st century overstimulating? Try ‘longstorming’
As the treadmill of life speeds up, sublime outdoor spaces help us tap into timescales that are longer, slower, planetary
by Vincent Ialenti
![Person in a coat bends to pick up a stone on a pebbly beach with a view of the ocean under a blue sky.](https://images.aeonmedia.co/images/8d5b141b-4a55-4242-b16d-3b4b73545384/original.jpg?width=3840&quality=75&format=auto)
Wonder and the sublime
guide
How to revive your sense of wonder
That childhood urge to ask ‘how’ and ‘why’ usually fades. But we can all learn to rediscover the joys of wide-eyed discovery
by Frank Keil
![Close-up of a green parrot with a red forehead and white around its eyes, looking directly at the camera.](https://images.aeonmedia.co/images/fc8938e6-799c-407c-8a6b-e17b28e9d042/original.jpg?width=3840&quality=75&format=auto)
Wonder and the sublime
film
The search for life beyond Earth is peculiar, from a parrot’s perspective
Directed by Jennifer Allora and Guillermo Calzadilla
![Hiker with a large backpack walking along a ridge with misty mountains in the background.](https://images.aeonmedia.co/images/703afa2d-43fa-4ddb-80b4-5efad013e9a6/original.jpg?width=3840&quality=75&format=auto)
Wonder and the sublime
idea
To benefit from wonder, make sure you’ve got the genuine kind
Why the life-long disposition towards wonder – not the momentary experience of awe – is the way to knowledge and discovery
by Lisa Sideris
![A woman seen from behind and bathed in dawn light is looking out through a window to a forest](https://images.aeonmedia.co/images/e6642217-6221-485e-a5b6-5d2e73066b21/rt-nn11498334.jpg?width=3840&quality=75&format=auto)
Altered states
idea
The small pleasures in life can produce moments of rapture
Rapture is a delight that turns us both towards the object of attention and towards oneself, resulting in a sense of freedom
by Christopher Hamilton
![](https://images.aeonmedia.co/images/cb43778b-4149-4a7d-9614-acc96d388d9a/original.jpg?width=3840&quality=75&format=auto)
Wonder and the sublime
guide
How to experience more wow
Awe might seem an unobtainable luxury to many but, with the right approach, you can enjoy it daily – no mountain required
by Summer Allen
![](https://images.aeonmedia.co/images/18385b37-90e7-450e-a930-f22e72d51c40/original.jpg?width=3840&quality=75&format=auto)
Sleep and dreams
film
From landscape to dreamscape, using the medium of Hawaiian lava
Directed by Kurtis Hough