Wonder, in the sense of it being a state of the mind, is an interesting, interesting thing. Lets try to define it shall we? How about 'A state of the mind, sometimes overtly felt, sometimes sublimely that is one part awe, another amazement, a third excitement and so on and so forth.' If you haven't seen where I am getting at by now (I am truly sorry) I shall spell it out:
Wonder is one of those things we 'just know'. We can't define it because it is one of those things that we use to define other things. A sort of geometrical point for states of the mind. But this is all besides the point. You know what wonder is because you just do. And if you don't, well, you have my deepest sympathies.
Now, I'd like to get back to Gaiman. Gaiman was [and is :) ] the author of 'the sandman' a comic series published under DC's Vertigo trademark. It's about dream. Dream being not simply a state of the mind, but an actual, thinking, being who embodies all the things that constitute dream. A sort of anthropomorphic personification of possibility. He is the shaper of things, the sandman, the prince of stories, he is dream. His siblings are, in order of age, Destiny, Death, Dream, Destruction, Desire, Despair and Delirium and they are the endless- they are an expression of the poles upon which our minds define everything.
Gaiman's brilliance was in his characterization. And that is brilliance I can scarcely do justice to in an essay of any length - I honestly beg you, take the time and read his works**. They are, in my opinion, the greatest work of fiction ever given form and substance. And how fitting that the character that series revolves around is fiction itself. It was simply the stuff wonder is made of.
And that brings us back to wonder: What is 'wonder'? Wonder is a state of the mind beyond simple definition. It is the driving force behind dream, it is that pole about which our desire to do and make and create and understand is built!
And that force is what drives me. That is my pathetic excuse for living***. I wonder. I wonder about the stars and I dream of the day they will be ours. I dream of the day we will stand on our Earth, look up and be able to say: "Look! There is Orion, there is Andromeda. We have been there. I can go there if I so will.They are ours. They are mine; for we have reached out and taken them."
I wonder. And I desire. I desire be one of the multitudes who has done his share in bringing us to that dream of mine. I want to be one of the millions of shoulders, some great, some small but all significant, upon whom that future rests.
Harshad.
** The sandman
*** Read my previous post- To live or not to live - that isn't really a question.
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