4093: 3 Ways to Sit with Wonder by Danae Smith of This Wondrous Life on Cultivating Wonder

Optimal Living Daily - Personal Development and Self-Improvement

Optimal Living Daily LLC

Self-improvement, Mental Health, Education, Health & Fitness

4.6 • 3.2K Ratings

🗓️ 22 July 2026

⏱️ 10 minutes

🔗️ Recording | Apple Podcasts | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Get the 200+ Page Optimal Living Daily Workbook (PDF) — Free. Want to turn today’s episode into an actionable plan? Join the Optimal Living Weekly newsletter and I’ll send you our 200-page digital workbook immediately. It’s packed with the best takeaways from the show, formatted for easy reading and implementation at home. Get your free PDF workbook here: ⁠⁠https://oldpodcast.eo.page/join⁠ Discover all of the podcasts in our network, search for specific episodes, get the Optimal Living Daily workbook, and learn more at: OLDPodcast.com. Episode 4093: Danae Smith reflects on how wonder isn't reserved for extraordinary moments, it can be cultivated in the familiar through intentional practices of stillness, presence, and gratitude. Her thoughtful perspective offers a gentle reminder that slowing down and appreciating everyday life can help quiet comparison, deepen contentment, and rediscover beauty that's already around us. Read along with the original article(s) here: https://thiswondrouslife.com/twl/3-ways-to-sit-with-wonder Quotes to ponder: "When we quiet down and lean in, I feel wonder meets us there." "I have full permission to keep some things sacred and close to me." "When we choose to be present, there is so much we get to see and experience with fresh eyes and open hearts." Episode references: New Oxford American Dictionary: https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/acref/9780195392883.001.0001/acref-9780195392883 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	So we need a social media wrap-up for the work bake-off. Any takers?
0:03.3	I can design posts on Canva. I can also design posts on Canva. Uh-huh. Well, I can design posts with a jam tart theme on Canver. That's great. I can design posts with a jam tart theme and generate a moving image of a jam roly-poly rolling on Canva. Well, I can design posts and create a 3D headline that says bake your tarts out on Canva. I can design posts and create a 3D headline
0:20.8	and turn your face into a Bakewell tartle, Kanbah.
0:23.2	All right, calm down.
0:24.2	With a huge range of easy to use design AI tools, anyone can with Canva. I can slice a video of a crock and bush. This is Optimal Living Daily. Three ways to sit with wonder by Deney Smith of This Wondrous Life.com, and I'm Justin Mollick.
0:39.5	Now let's get right to it as we optimize your life.
0:46.6	Three Ways to Sit with Wonder by Deney Smith of This Wondrous Life.com.
0:53.3	It's hard sitting with wonder. As this month moves forward,
0:57.0	I have found myself challenged with our focus. 11 days in, and the last thing I feel like I've
1:01.8	been doing is sitting with wonder. It's no easy feat. To sit and be with wonder is to make the
1:07.0	conscious choice and effort. It's slowing down and breathing deep when every part of you wants to rush.
1:13.7	While I feel I haven't been actively sitting with wonder,
1:15.9	I have been thinking about what it could look like.
1:18.4	Wonder by definition is a feeling of surprise, mingled with admiration,
1:22.9	caused by something beautiful, unexpected, unfamiliar, or inexplicable. As a verb, it's to desire or to be curious
1:30.7	to know something, feel admiration and amazement, to marvel. Molling over these definitions, I'm
1:36.9	challenged. The way of you wonder is all of these, but taking it from the unknown to the known.
1:42.8	How do you stay in wonder with the familiar? How do you stay in wonder with the familiar? How do you stay
1:45.7	in wonder with the mundane? How do you sit with it? engage with it? Know it. I don't think wonder is
1:51.7	relegated to just once, surprising or exciting. I don't think wonder is just for the new and deeply
1:56.8	anticipated. I think it's for where you are right now, deep in the familiarity of your daily
2:02.2	life. So how do we do this? How do we sit with and know, wonder where we are? Three ways come to mind.
	...

Transcript will be available on the free plan in 22 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Optimal Living Daily LLC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Optimal Living Daily LLC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.