The Wonder Paradox: Embracing the Weirdness of Existence and the Poetry of Our Lives

The Wonder Paradox offers a lively, practical, & transcendent roadmap to meaning & connection through poetry.Where do we find magic? Peace? Connection?We have calendars to mark time, communal spaces to bring us together, bells to signal hours of contemplation, official archives to record legacies, the wisdom of sages read aloud, weekly, to map out the right way to live—in kindness, justice, morality. These rhythms & structures of society were all once set by religion. Now, for many, religion no longer runs the show.So how then to celebrate milestones? Find rules to guide us? Figure out which texts can focus our attention but still offer space for inquiry, communion, & the chance to dwell for a dazzling instant in what can't be said? Where, really, are truth and beauty? The answer, says The Wonder Paradox, is in poetry.In twenty chapters built from years of questions & conversations with those looking for an authentic & meaningful life, Jennifer Michael Hecht offers ways to mine & adapt the useful aspects of tradition & to replace what no longer feels true. Through cultures & poetic wisdom from around the world—Sappho, Rumi, Shakespeare, Issa, Tagore, Frost, Szymborska, Angelou, & others—she blends literary criticism with spiritual guidance rooted in the everyday. Linking our needs to particular poems, she helps us better understand those needs, our very being, & poetry itself.Our capacity for wonder is one of the greatest joys of being human; The Wonder Paradox celebrates that instinct & that yearning.°°°Jennifer Michael Hecht, a historian & poet, is the award-winning & bestselling author of the histories Doubt, Stay, The Happiness Myth, & The End of the Soul. Her poetry books include Who Said, The Next Ancient World, & Funny. She earned her PhD in history from Columbia University & teaches in New York City. The Wonder Paradox offers a lively, practical, and transcendent road map to meaning and connection through poetry. Where do we find magic? Peace? Connection? We have calendars to mark time, communal spaces to bring us together, bells to signal hours of contemplation, official archives to record legacies, the wisdom of sages read aloud, weekly, to map out the right way to live—in kindness, justice, morality. These rhythms and structures of society were all once set by religion. Now, for many, religion no longer runs the show. So how then to celebrate milestones? Find rules to guide us? Figure out which texts can focus our attention but still offer space for inquiry, communion, and the chance to dwell for a dazzling instant in what can't be said? Where, really, are truth and beauty? The answer, says The Wonder Paradox , is in poetry. In twenty chapters built from years of questions and conversations with those looking for an authentic and meaningful life, Jennifer Michael Hecht offers ways to mine and adapt the useful aspects of tradition and to replace what no longer feels true. Through cultures and poetic wisdom from around the world—Sappho, Rumi, Shakespeare, Issa, Tagore, Frost, Szymborska, Angelou, and others—she blends literary criticism with spiritual guidance rooted in the everyday. Linking our needs to particular poems, she helps us better understand those needs, our very being, and poetry itself. Our capacity for wonder is one of the greatest joys of being human; The Wonder Paradox celebrates that instinct and that yearning. The Wonder Paradox offers a lively, practical, and transcendent roadmap to meaning and connection through poetry. Religion once formed the rhythms and structures of society: marking time with calendars, carving out space for contemplation, creating connection, reinforcing legacy and morality. Now, for many, religion no longer runs the show. So where shall we find our magic? How do we celebrate milestones? Which texts can focus our attention but still offer space for inquiry, communion, and the chance to dwell for a dazzling instant in what can't be said? The answer, Jennifer Michael Hecht--the historian, poet, and bestselling author of Doubt-- tells us, is poetry. In twenty chapters built from years of questions and conversation with those looking for an authentic and meaningful life, Hecht offers ways to excavate the useful aspects of tradition and to replace what no longer feels true. Through cultures and poetic wisdom from around the world--Sappho, Rumi, Shakespeare, Issa, Tagore, Frost, Szymborska, Angelou, and others--she blends literary criticism with spiritual guidance rooted in the everyday. Linking our needs to particular poems, she helps us better understand those needs, ourselves, and poetry. Our capacity for wonder is one of the greatest joys of being human; The Wonder Paradox celebrates that instinct and that yearning. Like Julia Cameron's The Artist's Way and Anne Lamott's Bird by Bird , it promises to inspire generations of readers. "Lively, practical, and transcendent, The Wonder Paradox is a roadmap to meaning and connection through poetry"-- Provided by publisher