By hiding delightful things for ourselves and others to discover, we become a bit like squirrels, caching joy so that we can reap its rewards at a future date.

Annie Dillard writes that as a child she used to love to hide pennies along the sidewalk for strangers to find,

I’ve since learned that I’m not the only one who secrets away mementos in hidden places.

Yet what I learned in Iceland is that scientific knowledge doesn’t always preclude magical interpretation. Even if we understand the logic behind the magnetic disturbance of the aurora or the geothermal cauldron of the hot springs, encountering them in certain circumstances can open a gap between our cognitive understanding and the sensory reality

It’s also something we can make, for ourselves and for those around us.

You can use this book as a field guide to spotting and savoring more joy in your surroundings, to help you gain a better understanding of why certain things and places light you up inside. And you can also use it as a palette, to design and craft more joy into your world.

Doug Wheeler, one of the founders of an artistic movement known as Light and Space,

All children live in a world rich with surprises. Each new thing, no matter how ordinary, inspires a sense of wonder and delight. But novelty naturally declines with age, and our surroundings begin to dull with familiarity.

it confers not just style but goodness.