Harris Kim, 2003.
Martin Shoeller

The notion of disruptive wonder is not new to me. That concept comes up in any and all context where transformative change is discussed, be it a the Landmark Forum (a powerful educational workshop – slightly cultish with a hint of pyramid scheme) or the introductory course GRDS 504 (the 4th order of design – Tony Golsby-Smith).

The process varies slightly but is built on the same foundation: finding new perspectives. It sounds very easy right? Well it’s not, for a couple of reasons.

We are hardwired into seeing the world from our own perspective. How many of us can really maintain a lucid frame of mind and realize that our reality is and always will be subjective?

Let me explain: I believed as a kid that the ‘moon follows the car’ somehow when my dad was driving. His vague explanation involving distances and perspectives made absolutely no sense to me. I believed my eyes and they told me what was true. A few years later, I knew that the earth and the moon were a long distance apart compared to the car and the trees, so it was a matter of prspetcive and perception that the moon seemed to be stationary to the moving car while the trees were going past.

If my reality could change within a few short years then, what new reality am I going to have in another few years into the future (assuming I survive another few years)? How is my reality now different than my wife’s? Is there a range of reality for the common masses that makes nationhood, wars, and suffering in distant places on earth seem somehow acceptable?

How deluded are most of us when we live day after day as if we were not dying?

Am I lucid and do I have a higher plane of perspective that most? If so, how many individuals out there are on an even higher plane of consciousness and are unable to reach out to others just because people are only able to see within their own frame of reality? Whenever one of these Gurus finds a way to reach others (by words or example or a visual) disruptive wonder is created.

So there are two prerequisites to creating disruptive wonder:
1- See something with ‘new eyes’, meaning; an unusual reality.
2- Find a way to share the unusual reality with others.

The first part comes easy-ish to me. The second part is where I have trouble.
Seeing something with new eyes is a time-consuming endeavor that involves a lot of personal growth and an introverted/extroverted exploration.
Sharing that necessitates unusual empathy and a mastery of communication skills.

I would like to share an mundane, fun, and striking example of disruptive wonder to end this blog on a less ‘psychological’ note. Check out Martin Schoeller’s gallery on female bodybuilders.