ArticleSeeing with Fresh Eyes

Most wonders belong in their own time and place - even now, when concerts are broadcast live from the best music halls in the world, and museum exhibits can be viewed in 3D without leaving the comfort of one's own home. Somehow, seeing a picture of, say, Niagara Falls is not the same as experiencing the Falls while standing right in front of them. Maybe it's the aura of the place... 

As for time, even the most famous Wonders - six out of the Original Seven - are long gone. True, there is an exception - as they say, "Everything bows before Time but even Time itself bows before the Pyramids! - but it's the one and only exception. Everything else does indeed do Time's bidding and crumbles into disappearance with its passage.

Finally, there are wonders that disappear without crumbling - and, in a way, those are the most amazing of all of them. Who would stop today even for a moment before making a phone call, turning on a TV, placing milk in the fridge or boarding a plane to travel half across the globe in several hours? Yet, if we do pause to think about it for a fleeting moment, we'll immediately realize that historically insignificant 100-150 years ago all of the above either didn't exist or was every bit a wonder, if not a miracle. While individual bygones had inevitably decayed, the collective technological concepts bringing those early objects about have stayed and developed. Modern technologies' products are slimmer, lighter, much easier to handle and more aesthetically pleasing - and yet, they aren't wonders anymore. Not in our collective mind. However, if we ever try to see by-now-oh-so-familiar-things with fresh eyes, the goldmine of wonders will become practically inexhaustible...