Missouri State University-West Plains

Skip to content Skip to navigation
a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z

Dalian Campus Interns

Thoughts from student interns abroad

You are here: Home / General / Magic and Wonder

Magic and Wonder

2017 September 6 by Sage Clunn

Sage Clunn FA17 Magic and WonderThe greatest tragedy of our age is that the days of magic and wonder have been replaced with science and reasoning. Traveling across the entire world, something that once might have been a nearly impossible feat, is now achievable in one day. Here I sit, typing this, a world away from the place I was born.

Soaring tens of thousands of feet above the ground at hundreds of miles per hour, I sat motionless and utterly unaware of the world below me. We flew on the fringe of where our earth met the heavens. We experienced something that our ancestors never had the chance to, something they could only have dreamt about. I wonder if it is any less of a dream for us. Are we beings that truly feel the gravity of this world and our actions within it, or are we simply numb spectators who look only to be entertained by this corporeal existence? I fear that I am the latter, because it took me less than an hour to become bored and turn to electronic entertainment.

In Dalian, Xinghai Square is one of my favorite places. More specifically, the literal ledge between civilization and the sea. In one direction, I can look unto the vastness of the ocean, and in the other, the mountains mingling with the skyscrapers. As I watched the sun set through the crimson sky, it dumbfounded me when I realized it was about to rise at the home I’d left behind… Once night falls the bridge over the ocean lights up with vivid colors. It illuminates the ocean between it and the land. I can see as far as the bridge, but past it is nothing. Utter darkness.

It’s both terrifying and humbling to realize that no matter how much I think I know, and how much I learn, I will never truly understand this world or my place in it. Knowledge isn’t quantified by how much you know, knowledge is an awareness of how much you don’t know.

Science and reasoning will only ever allow us to see so far. Those who rely entirely upon those two things will be blind towards the larger world, and ultimately deprived of the things that bring value to our short existences… Magic and wonder.

Filed Under: General

Recent Posts

  • Not So Cliche
  • Majestic Fur
  • Take Me Home… But Not Really!
  • An Ant on Top of an Ant Hill
  • Sticking Out but Fitting in

Archives

  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • July 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
New beginnings...endless possibilitiesNew beginnings...endless possibilities
  • Last Modified: September 6, 2017
  • Accessibility
  • Disclaimer
  • Disclosures
  • EO/AA/M/F/Veterans/Disability/Sexual Orientation/Gender Identity
  • © 2013 Board of Governors, Missouri State University
  • Contact Information