The world is still full of wonder. Look.

The Book

A field guide to the life you’re already living.

You don’t need a plane ticket, a museum pass, or a better version of yourself. Wonder is not rare — it’s just quiet. In thirteen lyric essays, Gary Waddell traces it through the places it hides in plain sight: a firefly-lit backyard, a half-remembered song, a painting that stops you mid-step, a moment of grace with a friend.

Wonder is for anyone running the race — the eternal to-do list, the weight of it all — who suspects the extraordinary has been there all along, waiting, patiently, to be noticed.

“[Waddell] gives you permission to be genuinely amazed — not just by the grand and the obvious, but by the texture of ordinary life. You don’t need to be standing in a Parisian museum to feel it … you can find it in your own backyard, with fireflies.”— Jean Holbrook, Ed.D., San Mateo County Superintendent of Schools, Retired

“I couldn’t put it down. It is exquisite. A profound read — and I say that with no hyperbole. It spoke to something missing in me that I cannot verbalize yet.”— Bonnie Lieberman, School Board President

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The Story

From the superintendent’s office to the backyard at dusk.

Gary Waddell, Ed.D., spent his career leading schools and school districts — as a superintendent and a statewide arts leader — and learned, slowly, that what was animating his leadership was the power of connection, creativity, and a particular attention to wonder. He lives in Palm Springs, California, where he writes, speaks, is active in the arts community, and takes his marching orders from a long-haired Chihuahua named Picasso.

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