I have no explanation for my recent behavior; I guess it's a mixture of nostalgia, the growing desire to truly live every moment, and the joy that comes when you bring a child into this world. Life is full of wonder and so often the things we see in passing are glimmers of something pure, wholesome, beautiful - yet we rarely notice them for what they are. I spent an hour today walking around downtown Chattanooga and found myself in awe of the little things. The way porches and building edges align, sunlight through swaying leaves, the sound of a car passing under the bridge - they are the truest essence of life's little moments of loveliness.
Well said. I boldfaced the part that's likeliest to explain your inexplicable behavior. This takes root in some people and not in others, at varying ages in life, but few folks have the understanding sufficient to recognize it as anything else but a great washing-over of appreciation--a sense of beauty everywhere.
The world itself is devoid of objective beauty. We perceive beauty when we are in a state of mind to do so. It comes from many places, from self-confidence, from comprehending the world's complexities, from recognizing the familiar, from a whole host of animal instincts, and from elsewhere besides. It could be that your having a child was a trigger for you, but in others (such as myself) who have hatched no kidlets it isn't necessarily the case.
The good news is that, as best I can tell, unless your misfortune is supreme you will be able to enjoy this heightened level of appreciation for the rest of your life. There will be more struggles and hardships, but appreciation is something that rarely fades.
I think you may find that the paradise many of us hope to one day find is already here, or at least the objective material component of it is, for those of us who are lucky enough not to be downtrodden or enslaved. We live in a golden age and you will see that everywhere, now, in all your travels and studies. What is usually missing is not the setting, but the mindset. What you're describing is the dawn of that mindset, and I wish you all the best with it.
Since you invited such things, here is a short poem to commemorate the occasion:
A temptation by what can be done.
A temptation to be where you are.
The blowing blade of grass is not overlooked.