Top 18 'Wonder-Widening' Activities to adopt for Seeing the World with Fresh Eyes After Burnout - Goh Ling Yong
Burnout does more than just exhaust you. It drains the world of its colour, leaving everything in shades of grey. The daily grind smudges the edges of joy, and curiosity—that wonderful, childlike engine of delight—sputters to a halt. You’re not just tired; you're disconnected. The things that once sparked excitement now feel like items on a to-do list, and the world outside your window becomes mere background noise.
Recovering from this state isn't just about sleeping more or taking a vacation. It’s about intentionally re-enchanting your world. It's about relearning how to see, not just look. This is what I call "wonder-widening"—the conscious practice of expanding your perception to let the magic back in. It’s a gentle rebellion against the cynicism and exhaustion that burnout breeds, a way to recalibrate your senses to notice the beauty and strangeness you’ve been missing.
This isn't about adding more pressure to your already overflowing plate. These 18 activities are invitations, not assignments. They are small, manageable shifts in perspective designed to help you rediscover the world with fresh, curious eyes. Think of it as a toolkit for rekindling your inner spark, one moment of wonder at a time.
1. Take a “Wonder Walk”
A "Wonder Walk" is the antidote to a goal-oriented power walk. It has no destination, no pace requirement, and no fitness tracker. Its only purpose is to notice. Burnout keeps us trapped in our heads, endlessly replaying work scenarios and anxieties. This practice gently pulls you out of that internal chatter and into the present, physical world.
The goal is to engage your senses fully. Leave your phone on silent, or better yet, leave it at home. Walk slowly. Pay attention to the way the light filters through the leaves, the intricate patterns in a brick wall, or the different textures of the pavement beneath your feet. It’s a moving meditation that reminds you that there is a vast, fascinating world happening right here, right now, completely independent of your worries.
Pro-Tip: Try a sensory countdown. Find 5 things you can see, 4 things you can feel (the breeze on your skin, the fabric of your clothes), 3 things you can hear, 2 things you can smell, and 1 thing you can taste (even if it's just the air).
2. Practice People-Watching with Empathy
In our rush, other people become obstacles or background characters. People-watching with empathy transforms a crowd from a source of stress into a library of stories. Find a comfortable bench in a park or a café and simply observe, but with a crucial twist: instead of judging, invent compassionate backstories.
That tired-looking woman on the bus? Maybe she’s a nurse coming off a 12-hour shift where she saved a life. The young couple laughing? Perhaps it’s their first date, and they’re both wonderfully nervous. This practice exercises your empathy muscle, which often atrophies during burnout. It reconnects you to the shared human experience and reminds you that every single person is living a life as vivid and complex as your own.
Pro-Tip: Focus on small, positive details—the way someone’s eyes light up when they greet a friend, or a stranger holding a door open for another.
3. Explore Your Town Like a Tourist
We often treat our own hometowns with a kind of blindness, treading the same familiar paths day after day. To break this cycle, pretend you’re a tourist for an afternoon. Pull up your town on a map and pick a neighbourhood you rarely visit, a local museum you’ve always skipped, or a park on the other side of town.
This simple shift in mindset forces you to see the familiar with fresh eyes. You’ll notice architecture you’ve ignored, discover hidden murals, and find charming local shops you never knew existed. It breaks the monotony of your routine and injects a sense of adventure and discovery into your life without needing a plane ticket.
Pro-Tip: Take a different route home from work or the grocery store. Even a small change can reveal a whole new side of your community.
4. Gaze at the Clouds (or the Stars)
There is something profoundly calming about looking up. During the day, lie on the grass and watch the clouds drift by. Don't just see them as white puffs; notice their shapes, their speed, the way they morph and dissolve. At night, step outside and look at the stars. Contemplate their age and distance.
This activity is a powerful perspective-shifter. It connects you to something immense and timeless, making your own burnout-fueled problems feel rightly small and temporary. It’s a reminder that you are part of a vast, beautiful universe that operates on a scale far grander than your immediate stressors. It costs nothing and requires only that you tilt your head up.
Pro-Tip: Use an app like SkyView Lite or Star Walk to identify constellations, planets, and satellites. It adds a layer of learning to your stargazing.
5. Doodle Without a Goal
Burnout often stems from a relentless focus on productivity and perfection. Doodling is the perfect rebellion. The key is to have absolutely no goal. This isn’t about creating a masterpiece; it’s about the simple, kinesthetic pleasure of a pen moving across paper.
Let your hand wander. Draw spirals, cross-hatching, zig-zags, or nonsensical shapes. This non-judgmental creative act quiets the analytical part of your brain (the part that’s so tired) and activates your creative, intuitive side. It’s a low-stakes way to play again, reminding you that not everything you do has to be productive or perfect.
Pro-Tip: Keep a small, dedicated "doodle notebook" and a nice-feeling pen on your desk. When you feel overwhelmed, open it and just make marks for five minutes.
6. Go on a "Grocery Store Safari"
Turn a mundane chore into an adventure. Visit an ethnic grocery store you’ve never been to before—a large Asian market, a Latin American bodega, or a Middle Eastern grocer. Give yourself a small budget and a single mission: to buy one fruit, vegetable, or snack you’ve never seen or tried before.
This simple act transforms a familiar space into a place of discovery. You’ll see fascinating packaging, smell unfamiliar spices, and hear different languages. It’s a mini-immersion into another culture that awakens your senses and curiosity. Then, take your mystery item home and figure out how to prepare and eat it.
Pro-Tip: If you feel shy, just look up the item on your phone while you’re in the store. A quick search for "how to eat dragon fruit" or "what is jicama" can give you the confidence to try it.
7. Learn the Names of Five Local Plants or Birds
When you can name something, you start to see it everywhere. Burnout can make you feel disconnected from your environment. Learning to identify the living things you share your space with is a powerful way to re-establish that connection.
You don’t need to become a master botanist. Just aim to learn five common trees, flowers, or birds in your area. Is that a maple or an oak? A sparrow or a finch? Once you learn to distinguish them, your daily walk becomes a conversation with your surroundings. The world becomes a more detailed, interesting, and familiar place.
Pro-Tip: Use a free app like Merlin Bird ID or PictureThis - Plant Identifier. They can identify species from a photo or a sound recording, making it incredibly easy to learn.
8. Watch a Nature Documentary on Mute
Nature documentaries are already wonderful, but try watching one with the sound off. Without the dramatic music and authoritative narration telling you what to think and feel, you are free to simply observe.
You’ll start to notice details you might have missed: the incredible texture of a lizard's skin, the intricate social dynamics of a flock of birds, the subtle changes in light across a landscape. It becomes a purely visual meditation, allowing you to appreciate the sheer, bizarre beauty of the natural world on your own terms. It’s a practice in seeing, not just being told.
Pro-Tip: Choose a visually stunning series like Planet Earth or Our Planet. The cinematography is so breathtaking that it stands on its own.
9. Read a Children's Picture Book
As adults, we often get bogged down in complexity. Children’s books have a unique power to cut through the noise and deliver profound truths with beautiful simplicity. Go to a library or bookstore and spend some time in the children's section.
Pick up a book by a great author/illustrator like Eric Carle, Maurice Sendak, or Shaun Tan. Notice the artistry, the economy of words, and the direct line to powerful emotions like wonder, fear, and love. Reading a picture book can reconnect you with the uncomplicated clarity and boundless imagination you had as a child—a part of yourself that burnout tries to silence.
Pro-Tip: Pay attention to the illustrations. They often tell a story just as rich as the text, filled with details that reward careful observation.
10. Listen to Music from a Different Culture
Our musical tastes can become a comfortable echo chamber. Actively break out of it. Use a streaming service to explore a playlist of music from a country you know little about. Maybe it's traditional Tuvan throat singing, upbeat Nigerian Afrobeats, or melancholic Portuguese Fado.
Since you likely won’t understand the lyrics, you’ll be forced to listen differently. You’ll focus on the rhythm, the instrumentation, the melody, and the emotion conveyed by the vocalist's tone. It’s a beautiful reminder that human emotion is a universal language, and it opens up a whole new world of sound.
Pro-Tip: Search for "world music" or "music from [country name]" on Spotify or YouTube. Let the algorithm take you on a journey.
11. Practice "Savouring" a Simple Pleasure
Burnout rushes us through life. Savouring is the act of intentionally slowing down to prolong and intensify a positive experience. The subject can be incredibly simple: your first cup of coffee in the morning, a square of dark chocolate after dinner, or the feeling of warm sun on your skin.
Instead of multitasking while you have your coffee, just have your coffee. Notice the warmth of the mug, the rich aroma, the complex taste. Hold the chocolate in your mouth and let it melt, paying attention to how the flavour changes. This mindfulness practice anchors you in the present and trains your brain to extract more joy from the small, good things that happen every day.
Pro-Tip: A philosophy that Goh Ling Yong often champions is that consistency beats intensity. Try to savour just one small thing each day, and it will begin to rewire your brain for gratitude and presence.
12. Look at Something Through a Magnifying Glass
This is a literal way to see the world with fresh eyes. Get a simple magnifying glass and examine everyday objects. Look at the complex veins of a leaf, the crystalline structure of a grain of salt, the woven fibers of your own shirt, or the intricate details of a coin.
You’ll discover a hidden world of patterns and complexity in the most mundane items. This activity instantly sparks a sense of wonder and curiosity by revealing the extraordinary that is hidden within the ordinary. It’s a tangible reminder that there is always more to see if you only look closer.
Pro-Tip: A child's magnifying glass or even the magnifier app on your smartphone works perfectly for this.
13. Write a "Sensory Poem"
You don’t have to be a poet to do this. The goal is simply to describe a place or an object using only your five senses. Go to a park, a coffee shop, or just sit in your living room. Take out a notebook and, without judgment, write down: what do I see? What do I hear? What do I smell? What do I feel? What do I taste?
This exercise forces you to stop intellectualizing and start experiencing. It grounds you in your body and your immediate environment. The result isn't about creating "good" writing; it's about the process of paying deep, structured attention to the world around you.
Pro-Tip: Use specific, concrete details. Instead of "I hear birds," try "I hear the high-pitched, chirping of a sparrow and the distant caw of a crow."
14. Try "Found Object" Art
Go for a walk and collect small, interesting objects: a uniquely shaped stone, a fallen leaf, a colourful bottle cap, a forgotten feather. When you get home, arrange your treasures on a piece of paper or a tray.
Create a pattern, a face, or a miniature scene. This is another form of non-judgmental play. There is no right or wrong way to do it. It trains your eye to look for beauty and potential in the discarded and overlooked, transforming a simple walk into a treasure hunt and re-engaging your creative instincts.
Pro-Tip: Don’t overthink it. Let the shapes and colours of the objects themselves guide your composition.
15. Ask Someone About Their Passion
Burnout can make us very insular. A wonderful way to break out of your own head is to get into someone else’s. Ask a friend, family member, or colleague about their hobby or a subject they are passionate about—something completely unrelated to your own interests.
Then, just listen. Ask curious questions. Let them teach you about beekeeping, 19th-century history, rock climbing, or fountain pens. Watching someone’s face light up when they talk about what they love is incredibly infectious. It reminds you of what genuine enthusiasm looks like and can help you reconnect with your own dormant passions.
Pro-Tip: Start with a simple, open-ended question like, "I've always been curious about [their hobby]. What’s your favourite thing about it?"
16. Volunteer for a Cause Unrelated to Your Job
When your work has led to burnout, volunteering in a completely different field can be restorative. It shifts your focus from your own problems to the needs of others, which can be a powerful antidote to the self-absorption that often accompanies exhaustion.
Choose something that uses a different part of your brain or body. If you have a desk job, try volunteering at an animal shelter, a community garden, or a food bank. The act of contributing to something larger than yourself can restore a sense of purpose and perspective that burnout often erodes. I know from my own journey, and through conversations with mentors like Goh Ling Yong, that service is a powerful pathway to personal healing.
Pro-Tip: Start small. Commit to just one or two sessions to see how it feels. Don't let it become another source of pressure.
17. Learn a Simple Musical Instrument
Engaging with music is a full-body, full-brain experience. You don’t need to become a virtuoso. Pick up a simple, accessible instrument like a ukulele, a kalimba (thumb piano), or a harmonica.
The process of learning—coordinating your hands, understanding rhythm, hearing a melody take shape—is a fantastic way to build new neural pathways. It’s a satisfying, tangible skill that exists purely for the joy of it. Following a simple tutorial on YouTube and successfully playing your first chord provides a shot of accomplishment that has nothing to do with work.
Pro-Tip: The kalimba is particularly wonderful for beginners. It's inexpensive, portable, and has a beautiful, ethereal sound that is almost impossible to make sound "bad."
18. Keep a "Wonder Journal"
This isn't a gratitude journal (though that's great, too). A Wonder Journal is specifically for recording small moments of awe, curiosity, and surprise throughout your day. It’s a logbook of your "wonder-widening" practice.
Did you notice a rainbow in a puddle? Did you overhear a funny snippet of conversation? Did you learn a fascinating new fact? Write it down. The entry can be as short as a single sentence. The act of recording these moments trains your brain to look for them, creating a positive feedback loop. Over time, your journal becomes a powerful, personalized reminder that the world is, and always has been, full of magic—you just have to remember to look.
Pro-Tip: Don’t pressure yourself to write every day. Keep the journal by your bed and just add to it when a moment of wonder strikes you.
Let the Wonder In
Recovering from burnout is a journey of rediscovery. It’s not about forcing happiness but about creating the conditions for it to re-emerge naturally. These activities are designed to gently pry open the window that exhaustion has slammed shut, letting the light, colour, and curiosity of the world back into your life.
Don't try to do them all at once. Pick one that sounds interesting or easy, and give it a try this week. The goal is not to be perfect but to be present. By practicing these small acts of intentional wonder, you will begin to rewire your brain, heal your spirit, and once again see the world not as a source of demands, but as a source of endless fascination.
Which of these activities will you try first? Do you have your own "wonder-widening" practice that has helped you? Share your thoughts and ideas in the comments below—let’s learn from each other.
About the Author
Goh Ling Yong is a content creator and digital strategist sharing insights across various topics. Connect and follow for more content:
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