Radical Amazement, Creative Maladjustment, Episode 471 of Turning Towards Life

We are invited into Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel's philosophy of wonder and radical amazement. It's a call to break free from habitual thinking and approach life with fresh curiosity. We explore together what it is to take nothing for granted and to practice 'maladjustment' to what we already know and feel sure about. And through all of that we invite ourselves, and you, into deepened care for all that surrounds us all. This week is hosted as always by Lizzie Winn and Justin Wise of Thirdspace. This is Turning Towards Life, a weekly live 30 minute conversation hosted by Thirdspace in which Justin Wise and Lizzie Winn explore living with depth, attentiveness and care. Find us on FaceBook to join in the lively conversation on this episode. You can find videos of every episode, and more about the project on the Turning Towards Life website, and you can also watch and listen on Instagram, YouTube, and as a podcast in all the usual podcast places. Episode Overview 00:00 Introduction and Reflections 03:14 Learning and Community with Us 06:09 Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel 09:09 Wonder and Awareness 17:08 Adapting Our Minds to the World 29:24 Parenting and Wonder Our source for this week: The greatest hindrance to knowledge is our adjustment to conventional notions, to mental clichés. Wonder or radical amazement, the state of maladjustment to words and notions, is, therefore, a prerequisite for an authentic awareness of that which is. Standing eye to eye with being, we realize that we are able to look at the world with two faculties-the first we try to explain or to adapt the world to our concepts, through the second we seek to adapt our minds to the world… Wonder is a state of mind in which we do not look at reality through the latticework of our memorized knowledge; in which nothing is taken for granted. Spiritually we cannot live by merely reiterating borrowed or inherited knowledge. Inquire of your soul what does it know, what does it take for granted. It will tell you only nothing is taken for granted; each thing is a surprise, being is unbelievable. We are amazed at seeing anything at all; amazed not only at particular values and things but at the unexpectedness of being as such, at the fact that there is being at all. Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel Photo by Anuj Yadav on Unsplash Join Our Weekly Mailing: www.turningtowards.life/subscribe Support Us: www.buymeacoffee.com/turningtowardslife --- Join Us Live in 2026 Turning Towards Life Live Season 4, from March 2027 Our Turning Towards Life live programme of community, learning and reflection runs in six month seasons, in person on Zoom once a month. We're very excited about it. A chance to expand beyond the bounds of a podcast into forming a community of learning and practice. You can find out more and join us here: www.turningtowards.life/live Learn Coaching with Thirdspace Foundations of Integral Development Coaching Our two-day immersive introduction to integral development coaching. An opportunity to begin to learn to support others in deep, life giving discovery and development. You can read more 'Foundations' and book a place here: www.wearethirdspace.org/foundations-of-coaching You can hear us talk about the philosophy of our coaching programmes here: www.turningtowards.life/coaching And our year-long Professional Coaching Course details are here: www.wearethirdspace.org/professional-coaching-course Join Our Weekly Mailing: www.turningtowards.life/subscribe Support Us: www.buymeacoffee.com/turningtowardslife