Wednesday May 17, 2023

Episode #26: The Power of Wonder, with Monica C. Parker

In this episode, we are very lucky to have an amazing conversation with the author of The Power of Wonder, Monica C. Parker! Monica is a prominent speaker and writer, the founder of HATCH Analytics, and has an unusually varied career, having worked as an opera singer, policy director, homicide investigator, CEO, and museum exhibition director!

In our chat, we get to pick Monica's brain about her research into what wonder can do for the human mind and body, and she explains how building a mindset focused on experiencing wonder can lead to continual flourishing. We get into her argument for aiming for wonder over happiness, how meaning and gratitude figure into her framework, and how to use curiosity as a powerful processing tool. Join us to hear it all!

Key Points From This Episode:

Monica shares an overview of her path to her current work researching wonder.
How the idea of flourishing fits into Monica's work.
Defining and conceptualizing wonder; Monica's focus on the emotional experience.
Understanding the roots of our ability to experience wonder.
Monica differentiates between shallow and deep curiosity.
Steps for developing a 'wonder mindset'; prioritizing novelty, mixed emotions, and more.
Tips for having a 'wonder-walk', and the power of priming the mind.
The practices that help us slow down the mind.
Monica speaks about the effects of nostalgic and grateful thinking.
The issue with aiming for happiness and our inability to forecast accurately.
How curiosity can help us process past traumas.
The composite effects of wonder on our mental and physical state.
Exploring Monica's argument for wonder being the highest good.
Measuring and assessing our relationships with these concepts.
Implementing the mindset of a beginner.
Fighting against the modern tendency to completely avoid boredom.
Monica's final lesson on flourishing and practical steps for its implementation.