Tracking Wonder Quotes

“Yet no fulfilled creative life came from choosing a path based solely on what others think.”
― Jeffrey Davis, Tracking Wonder: Reclaiming a Life of Meaning and Possibility in a World Obsessed with Productivity

“One person wrote, “There’s a constant pull back to our conditioning that ‘risk equals irresponsibility,’ and then you just get exhausted justifying yourself to other people for why you’re taking the risks you are.”
― Jeffrey Davis, Tracking Wonder: Reclaiming a Life of Meaning and Possibility in a World Obsessed with Productivity

“When you encounter detractors, you might react with fear. What keeps smart, imaginative people from pursuing their potentially impactful ideas? Lack of time and resources? When I informally polled our community, they told me about their fears. Fear shuts people down—regardless of their profession or station in life—from achieving their potential, especially if they haven’t worked out their devotion muscle enough and learned to manage uncertainty. Fear crops up when you start to believe other people’s opinions of you more than you believe in your genius and the potential impact of your own ideas.”
― Jeffrey Davis, Tracking Wonder: Reclaiming a Life of Meaning and Possibility in a World Obsessed with Productivity

“When you bring more intention to an unconscious process, it can trigger reactions in other people. Some people may want to stop you because your wide-eyed audacity threatens them and their own paradigm of what is rational. Some detractors often think they’re acting out of care for you and want you to avoid failure.”
― Jeffrey Davis, Tracking Wonder: Reclaiming a Life of Meaning and Possibility in a World Obsessed with Productivity

“Beware the detractors: The seed of your dream can be crushed before it even has a chance to sprout. That’s why in the early stages you practice the facets of openness and curiosity to help you stand in wonder. I think of Carey Smith and his intelligent naiveté as he named himself Chief Big Ass of Big Ass Fans and built his dream based on his ideals.”
― Jeffrey Davis, Tracking Wonder: Reclaiming a Life of Meaning and Possibility in a World Obsessed with Productivity

“A dream endeavor often will stretch you beyond your comfort zone, demanding a lot of you psychologically and emotionally. To keep the dream in motion, you’ll meet a series of challenges and need to work with one or more people.”
― Jeffrey Davis, Tracking Wonder: Reclaiming a Life of Meaning and Possibility in a World Obsessed with Productivity

“A dream endeavor is any initiative, project, or venture that puts your dreams for a better life or better world in motion.”
― Jeffrey Davis, Tracking Wonder: Reclaiming a Life of Meaning and Possibility in a World Obsessed with Productivity

“Try not to think of purpose as some unattainable ideal. Purpose can arise in everyday contexts: a mom caring for her child, a musician performing original songs, or a lawyer arguing in court. To carry out purpose, create the conditions for accomplishing something meaningful to you that also has a positive impact on others. In my work, I call this a “dream endeavor.”
― Jeffrey Davis, Tracking Wonder: Reclaiming a Life of Meaning and Possibility in a World Obsessed with Productivity

“Devotion. It’s an appropriate word for what’s required to cross the threshold from witnessing fleeting moments of wonder to standing in wonder. Devotion reaches more deeply than shortlived passion; it does not flee challenges but instead meets them as opportunities to go deeper.”
― Jeffrey Davis, Tracking Wonder: Reclaiming a Life of Meaning and Possibility in a World Obsessed with Productivity

“A similar principle is true of committing to a specific endeavor or a creative life in general. It’s one thing to fall in love with a fantasy you’ve conjured. It’s another more abiding thing to stand in wonder with a dream you’re devoted”
― Jeffrey Davis, Tracking Wonder: Reclaiming a Life of Meaning and Possibility in a World Obsessed with Productivity

“When you love artfully, you’re not motivated by fleeting passions nor to alleviate your own loneliness but by an intentional drive to love better. Love, he writes, “is a ‘standing in,’ not a ‘falling for.’” That phrase “standing in” has stuck with me ever since. To stand in love fosters an abiding, mature dedication.”
― Jeffrey Davis, Tracking Wonder: Reclaiming a Life of Meaning and Possibility in a World Obsessed with Productivity

“Remember that father I envied and said to myself, “I want to be like that?” When you catch yourself thinking in this potentially downer pattern, identify the “that.” Then turn the mirror back to yourself and own up to what you already have within you to be more of your genius self instead of trying to be more like someone else.”
― Jeffrey Davis, Tracking Wonder: Reclaiming a Life of Meaning and Possibility in a World Obsessed with Productivity

“Yet to accept tributes to yourself, whether for your innate qualities or your work, allows other people to receive the benefits of the admiration they give. If you’re not accustomed to gracefully accepting praise, that’s a good skill to work on. When you receive appreciation, refrain from quickly deflecting attention back to the other person or deprecating your talents. A gracious, genuine “Thank you” often suffices. Doing so could increase your own happiness and fulfillment.”
― Jeffrey Davis, Tracking Wonder: Reclaiming a Life of Meaning and Possibility in a World Obsessed with Productivity

“suggested to the city planning department that we instead identify segments of the city population as heroes. Many team members seemed surprised by the use of the word hero. Why wouldn’t they balk? After all, if you’ve ever attended a city council or local planning board meeting, it’s hard to imagine the people yelling at city representatives as “heroes.” But this framing would be private among the department, designed to help us gain a new appreciation for the concerns, frustrations, and challenges that even these more privileged populations face. This way we would be in a much healthier position for the department to listen to and engage their participation.”
― Jeffrey Davis, Tracking Wonder: Reclaiming a Life of Meaning and Possibility in a World Obsessed with Productivity

“Everyday heroes are people who desire change, big or small, permanent or temporary. Many of them, like you, view life as a quest inherent with discovery, surprise, and challenge—and they might meet and surmount those challenges often with a quiet courage.”
― Jeffrey Davis, Tracking Wonder: Reclaiming a Life of Meaning and Possibility in a World Obsessed with Productivity

“I have observed that everyday geniuses of creativity of many stripes possess a healthy regard for the people who they can influence for the better as potential heroes of sorts.”
― Jeffrey Davis, Tracking Wonder: Reclaiming a Life of Meaning and Possibility in a World Obsessed with Productivity

“Simonton’s study highlights the important reciprocity of directing your admiration toward others and receiving it from them, too. Even if you have no aspirations to become a famous artist, certain relationships of admiration might propel your endeavor forward and outward in ways you could not imagine. This small shift in perspective could have big ripples of impact.”
― Jeffrey Davis, Tracking Wonder: Reclaiming a Life of Meaning and Possibility in a World Obsessed with Productivity

“Those of us prone to feel admiration are also susceptible to envy, which can lead to sadness, fear, or shame. Admiration feels good, but envy feels bad. Akin to admiration, envy is the negative aspect of how we might initially respond to another’s superior skills, accomplishments, or status. Envy occurs when you compare yourself to someone else whom you believe has a superior quality, skill, or achievement, and you subsequently find yourself lacking. It can be a classic case of compare-and-despair.”
― Jeffrey Davis, Tracking Wonder: Reclaiming a Life of Meaning and Possibility in a World Obsessed with Productivity

“having experiences of elevation, gratitude, and admiration “draws people out of themselves.”
― Jeffrey Davis, Tracking Wonder: Reclaiming a Life of Meaning and Possibility in a World Obsessed with Productivity

“Experiencing—and practicing—admiration also could alter the way we view other people. Those people who experienced admiration or elevation were more likely to have a renewed view or respect toward the other person being observed than those people who experienced joy—who tended to focus much more on their own experiences instead of on other people.”
― Jeffrey Davis, Tracking Wonder: Reclaiming a Life of Meaning and Possibility in a World Obsessed with Productivity

“We also can be admired, too, as we become mirrors of possibility to the people who could benefit from the fruits of our work. Admiration, it turns out, is a wonder mirror.”
― Jeffrey Davis, Tracking Wonder: Reclaiming a Life of Meaning and Possibility in a World Obsessed with Productivity

“Admiration, we could say, is to experience a surprising love for someone else’s excellence that can awaken us to become better at what we do and how we do it.”
― Jeffrey Davis, Tracking Wonder: Reclaiming a Life of Meaning and Possibility in a World Obsessed with Productivity

“the Oxford English Dictionary defines admiration as “agreeable surprise; wonder mingled with reverence, esteem, approbation,” a definition likely influenced by Charles Darwin’s impression that admiration is “surprise associated with some pleasure and a sense of approval.”
― Jeffrey Davis, Tracking Wonder: Reclaiming a Life of Meaning and Possibility in a World Obsessed with Productivity

“A splash of happiness. Sometimes we expect that we will swim in an ocean of happiness in most endeavors and collaborations all day, every day. We expect that collaboration will feel like a well-practiced dance ensemble or a jazz masters’ improv jam. No wonder we’re disappointed. When we have unreal expectations, we miss the most real moments of joy, of openness, of harmony that can happen between two or more people, if only for a splash.”
― Jeffrey Davis, Tracking Wonder: Reclaiming a Life of Meaning and Possibility in a World Obsessed with Productivity

“Yet complete DIY is a harmful myth. Ambitious people begin to believe that if they genuinely are a brave soul, they must stick it out on their own and figure everything out solo. That myth can turn out to be ironically expensive, frustrating, and self-limiting.”
― Jeffrey Davis, Tracking Wonder: Reclaiming a Life of Meaning and Possibility in a World Obsessed with Productivity

“Then I took a deep breath, gazed up at the towering pines, and said to myself, “Open up; don’t size up.” What if I just opened up to everyone, no agenda, and had open conversations in which I just listened to who they are and the stories that brought them here? I decided that was my main intent for being there—to connect and listen to people’s stories. It”
― Jeffrey Davis, Tracking Wonder: Reclaiming a Life of Meaning and Possibility in a World Obsessed with Productivity

“In fact, neuroscientists have measured people’s brains in conversation. The better the communication, the better the sync in a speaker’s brain waves and a listener’s brain waves.”
― Jeffrey Davis, Tracking Wonder: Reclaiming a Life of Meaning and Possibility in a World Obsessed with Productivity

“Conversation can be a form of co-flowing, an approximate experience of being in human murmuration. You’ve likely had that experience with a friend, spouse, or colleague when you felt that you two just “clicked” in conversation. When in a free-flowing conversation of ideas, our sense of time stretches because everyone stays focused as their wits come into play to further the conversation stream.”
― Jeffrey Davis, Tracking Wonder: Reclaiming a Life of Meaning and Possibility in a World Obsessed with Productivity

“That is, it’s our very capacity to be in wonder toward another human being—without desire for gain from that person—that allows us to connect without shields and armor. If we can orient our days around authentically connecting with others—in our work, within our families, while we are out on a trail in the woods—we boost our capacity to deepen our relationships and our collective potential.”
― Jeffrey Davis, Tracking Wonder: Reclaiming a Life of Meaning and Possibility in a World Obsessed with Productivity

“More than any other positive emotion, then, love belongs not to one person but pairs or groups of people. It resides within connections.” Love is connection, Fredrickson says. And love can occur in a wondrous instant that you share with anyone. “It’s even the fondness and sense of shared purpose you might unexpectedly feel with a group of strangers who’ve come together to marvel at a hatching of sea turtles or cheer at a football game,” she writes.”
― Jeffrey Davis, Tracking Wonder: Reclaiming a Life of Meaning and Possibility in a World Obsessed with Productivity