Do You Want to Become a Wonderseeker?
"There are Places that are not simply seen. They are felt."
“Do You Want to Become a Wonderseeker?” is a crowdsourcing project conceived by writer-director Michele Lanubile for the collective creation of an Emotional Atlas of Wonder: a universal archive where every Place is chosen for its Wonder, the beautiful, authentic emotion that we wish to experience and that belongs to that Place.
THE PROJECT
What if we chose a Place for the emotion we want to feel?
We are used to picking a destination and then setting off. The Emotional Atlas of Wonder tries to reverse this perspective: starting from what we wish to feel and arriving at the Place that can evoke it.
The Seeker’s task is to listen, recognize the Wonder of a Place, and give it a name.
Some of the Seekers' emotions
Harmony
For me, HARMONY is not the absence of contrasts. It is the way different things can coexist without cancelling one another out. It is a living balance, never perfectly still, made up of continuous small adjustments. In this sense, I feel it is very close to the idea of Enchantment proposed by the project, in which a place is not merely something we observe, but becomes an inner experience, capable of bringing forth and naming a particular emotional nuance.I think of HARMONY as breathing.I inhale and welcome; I exhale and give back. I cannot do only one of these two things. Life itself seems to remind me constantly of this reciprocity. Day makes room for night, fullness for emptiness, movement for stillness. The body, too, takes what it needs and then lets go. What enters must, somehow, be able to leave. Holding on to everything would break the balance.Perhaps this is precisely what HARMONY means to me: feeling that the body, thoughts, and emotions do not always say the same thing, yet they can listen to one another and find a shared message. I cannot imagine light without shadow, joy without the possibility of sadness, encounter without separation, life without death.
Everything seems to acquire meaning only through its opposite and through the continuous movement between balance and change.And finally, there is emptiness, which may seem like a lack, but I try to think of it as available space. Where something is absent, there may be room for something else to arrive. A pause makes a new breath possible; silence allows us to listen; distance can create the desire to draw closer.
My nuance of HARMONY is therefore this: connection, balance, and exchange. Giving and receiving. Entering and leaving. Drawing near and letting go. Not trying to eliminate opposites, but allowing them to meet. And perhaps feeling in HARMONY means exactly this: sensing, for a moment, that nothing needs to be added and nothing needs to be taken away, because even what appears empty already has its own place.
Cristian Stifano – PhD Candidate in Human Relations Sciences Department of Forensic Psychology and Communication University of Bari “Aldo Moro”
Everything seems to acquire meaning only through its opposite and through the continuous movement between balance and change.And finally, there is emptiness, which may seem like a lack, but I try to think of it as available space. Where something is absent, there may be room for something else to arrive. A pause makes a new breath possible; silence allows us to listen; distance can create the desire to draw closer.
My nuance of HARMONY is therefore this: connection, balance, and exchange. Giving and receiving. Entering and leaving. Drawing near and letting go. Not trying to eliminate opposites, but allowing them to meet. And perhaps feeling in HARMONY means exactly this: sensing, for a moment, that nothing needs to be added and nothing needs to be taken away, because even what appears empty already has its own place.
Cristian Stifano – PhD Candidate in Human Relations Sciences Department of Forensic Psychology and Communication University of Bari “Aldo Moro”
Enthusiasm
ENTHUSIASM is what makes us feel alive and truly living. The ability to feel enthusiastic is the most precious thing one can experience. The ENTHUSIASM we feel when watching the sun rise and usher in a new day, the ENTHUSIASM we feel when traveling to a new place or encountering a culture different from our own. It’s that drive that leads us to look at what’s in front of us with curiosity, as if, for a moment, we could free ourselves from routine.
We can be enthusiastic about something extraordinary, but also about what is small and seemingly ordinary: an unexpected conversation, a song heard at just the right moment, a familiar landscape bathed in a different light, a project that’s beginning to take shape. Perhaps this is precisely the value of ENTHUSIASM: it depends not only on what happens but on our willingness to let ourselves be moved by it. When we feel enthusiastic, time seems to take on a different quality: we are more present, more engaged, more open to what might happen. And it is perhaps in those moments—even the briefest ones—that we feel most clearly not only that we are alive but that we are truly living.
S.L. – PhD Candidate in Human Relations Sciences Department of Forensic Psychology and Communication University of Bari “Aldo Moro”
We can be enthusiastic about something extraordinary, but also about what is small and seemingly ordinary: an unexpected conversation, a song heard at just the right moment, a familiar landscape bathed in a different light, a project that’s beginning to take shape. Perhaps this is precisely the value of ENTHUSIASM: it depends not only on what happens but on our willingness to let ourselves be moved by it. When we feel enthusiastic, time seems to take on a different quality: we are more present, more engaged, more open to what might happen. And it is perhaps in those moments—even the briefest ones—that we feel most clearly not only that we are alive but that we are truly living.
S.L. – PhD Candidate in Human Relations Sciences Department of Forensic Psychology and Communication University of Bari “Aldo Moro”
Depth
I still remember the first time I listened to a song and felt something stir inside me—a feeling I couldn’t explain.When you first encounter music, it may seem like nothing more than a series of sounds, but when it touches your heart, it transforms into something extraordinarily deep.Music has the power to convey emotions that words cannot express and to bring to the surface memories and thoughts that we keep buried—the ones we don’t have the courage to say out loud.
DEPTH is like when you listen to a song and every time you discover a detail you hadn’t noticed before; it can be hidden in a melody, a voice, a chord, or even a moment of silence. A song can make us happy or melancholy, nostalgic or calm. It can transport us straight to a specific moment in our lives.This doesn’t necessarily mean doing complicated things. Sometimes, just a few notes played just right can make us feel an overwhelming emotion. Music has the ability to go beyond what we hear with our ears and reach a much more intimate place.
Music helps us discover parts of ourselves that we often keep hidden. It’s a language that needs no explanation because certain emotions can only be understood by listening.DEPTH isn’t measured by counting the number of sounds, but by what the music leaves inside us.
Cristian
DEPTH is like when you listen to a song and every time you discover a detail you hadn’t noticed before; it can be hidden in a melody, a voice, a chord, or even a moment of silence. A song can make us happy or melancholy, nostalgic or calm. It can transport us straight to a specific moment in our lives.This doesn’t necessarily mean doing complicated things. Sometimes, just a few notes played just right can make us feel an overwhelming emotion. Music has the ability to go beyond what we hear with our ears and reach a much more intimate place.
Music helps us discover parts of ourselves that we often keep hidden. It’s a language that needs no explanation because certain emotions can only be understood by listening.DEPTH isn’t measured by counting the number of sounds, but by what the music leaves inside us.
Cristian
Wonder
I’ve known the word “WONDER” since I was a child, even though, in reality, I’d never actually felt that emotion back then. I experienced it recently, when I started studying at my high school, a scientific high school. One day, during science class, the teacher explained topics related to nature and astronomy, and showed us photos of the stars. In that moment, I felt WONDER—at the Northern Lights, the astral aurora, and the other stars. What fascinates me is that even today, people continue to discover so many new stars, to study and observe the bodies in the sky. I remember once going to my grandmother’s house, in an area surrounded by mountains. In the morning, it seemed like a quiet town; there were very few cars. But one night, around 11:00 p.m., when I went out with my friends and we were walking along the brightly lit streets, I wondered why the streetlights were so bright. My friend told me to look up: I raised my head toward the sky and experienced true WONDER—before, it had just been a picture I’d seen at school, but this time the stars were real!
The stars shine like sparkling pearls, and having studied them, I was able to recognize them. For example, “Polaris” is the most famous star, which points north. All of this represents WONDER to me, because even though we keep discovering new things, we still don’t know the origin of the universe. We’ve made many discoveries, but there are still infinite spaces to explore. We don’t know how many yet, but this gives me a sense of just how small humanity is in the face of the infinite universe.
S. Y.-2^ D – Liceo “Arcangelo Scacchi” di Bari
The stars shine like sparkling pearls, and having studied them, I was able to recognize them. For example, “Polaris” is the most famous star, which points north. All of this represents WONDER to me, because even though we keep discovering new things, we still don’t know the origin of the universe. We’ve made many discoveries, but there are still infinite spaces to explore. We don’t know how many yet, but this gives me a sense of just how small humanity is in the face of the infinite universe.
S. Y.-2^ D – Liceo “Arcangelo Scacchi” di Bari
Intimacy
My thoughts always return to the memory of that solitude experienced in childhood and adolescence—one that, at the right moment, reveals something more about one’s own nature—and to a carob tree beside a trullo in the Itria Valley. That carob tree represents INTIMACY to me.
In the shade of its broad, dense leaves, I often found a sense of protection and a profound care for my inner world—an attentiveness to the most distant passions and desires of the soul.
It is not merely a matter of introspection. For me, these are moments in which one feels the warmth of a cradle. In those moments, the mind and emotions move freely, untouched by any kind of judgment.Over the years, I have found that same warmth, that same INTIMACY, also in relationships with others: when a powerful feeling of love—whether familial, friendly, or romantic, it matters little—overcomes the barriers we naturally place between ourselves and the world, and only two individuals remain, in their purity. It has been an extraordinary experience for me, revealing that one can reach a profound state of INTIMACY by opening oneself to another person and to their understanding.
In a state of INTIMACY, time is suspended. The noise around us immediately becomes more muted; only an echo remains within us, whispering something to us, while everything else slips away, indifferent.
Emilio
In the shade of its broad, dense leaves, I often found a sense of protection and a profound care for my inner world—an attentiveness to the most distant passions and desires of the soul.
It is not merely a matter of introspection. For me, these are moments in which one feels the warmth of a cradle. In those moments, the mind and emotions move freely, untouched by any kind of judgment.Over the years, I have found that same warmth, that same INTIMACY, also in relationships with others: when a powerful feeling of love—whether familial, friendly, or romantic, it matters little—overcomes the barriers we naturally place between ourselves and the world, and only two individuals remain, in their purity. It has been an extraordinary experience for me, revealing that one can reach a profound state of INTIMACY by opening oneself to another person and to their understanding.
In a state of INTIMACY, time is suspended. The noise around us immediately becomes more muted; only an echo remains within us, whispering something to us, while everything else slips away, indifferent.
Emilio
Serenity
I remember every morning when I get out of bed and feel light and serene. The morning is a fresh start and a new experience. Even if yesterday was terrible, the next morning is all new. SERENITY is like tranquility. When you feel tranquil, you also feel serene.
SERENITY exists everywhere: for example, when you’re alone you can feel serene, or when you’re reading a book or spending time with friends. Other examples: a cup of tea at sunset, the rustling of the wind through the trees, a moment of silence without distractions or phones. SERENITY doesn’t mean not having problems, like pain or anxiety. It’s the ability to embrace your emotions without being overwhelmed by them; it’s knowing how to slow down instead of rushing around aimlessly. SERENITY is the most precious treasure a person can have. You can’t buy it, but you can find it within yourself.
L. J.-2^H-Liceo Scacchi
SERENITY exists everywhere: for example, when you’re alone you can feel serene, or when you’re reading a book or spending time with friends. Other examples: a cup of tea at sunset, the rustling of the wind through the trees, a moment of silence without distractions or phones. SERENITY doesn’t mean not having problems, like pain or anxiety. It’s the ability to embrace your emotions without being overwhelmed by them; it’s knowing how to slow down instead of rushing around aimlessly. SERENITY is the most precious treasure a person can have. You can’t buy it, but you can find it within yourself.
L. J.-2^H-Liceo Scacchi
Anticipation
Waiting is not merely an empty or passive period in which one expects something to happen or arrive. It can also be a time to pause and look within oneself—to explore, grow, improve, and understand what truly matters. At this moment, waiting is teaching me patience above all, and showing me how it can be an alternative to simply rushing through life.
If I had to find a metaphor, I would say that waiting is like being on a boat on a calm sea, still unable to see the destination.
And right now, I would like to imagine myself there: lying on that boat, contemplating the sky and the water. When everything moves quickly and without interruption, we risk living too automatically, without truly pausing to reflect on life itself. Waiting, instead, introduces a pause that can allow us to observe and give meaning to what we experience.So, perhaps the lesson is to learn to be present while waiting, and to appreciate this dimension of life as well.
Diana Sarcina Department of Forensic Psychology and Communication University of Bari “Aldo Moro”
If I had to find a metaphor, I would say that waiting is like being on a boat on a calm sea, still unable to see the destination.
And right now, I would like to imagine myself there: lying on that boat, contemplating the sky and the water. When everything moves quickly and without interruption, we risk living too automatically, without truly pausing to reflect on life itself. Waiting, instead, introduces a pause that can allow us to observe and give meaning to what we experience.So, perhaps the lesson is to learn to be present while waiting, and to appreciate this dimension of life as well.
Diana Sarcina Department of Forensic Psychology and Communication University of Bari “Aldo Moro”
Amazement
It was a hot summer day when my mother decided to organize a trip to the theater because she was sure we would learn a lot. I didn’t understand what she meant—whether we’d learn some new behavior or experience as many emotions as possible. Still, I was so eager to learn so many new things!
When we arrived in front of the theater, I was overwhelmed by one particular sense of AMAZEMENT: first of all, the building was so large and majestic, like a palace. After going inside, I realized that the true beauty lay within, not on the outside. We took our seats and waited in silence for the show to begin: “Six Characters in Search of an Author.” The play is about six mysterious characters who suddenly interrupt the actors on stage, tell them they were created by an author who abandoned them, and ask to be let into the play so they can become real. After seeing this play, I couldn’t hide my AMAZEMENT because I loved the transition from the real world to the fictional one so much.
After returning home, the first thing I thought of was writing about this experience in my journal, because I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything that filled me with such AMAZEMENT. In the end, I can say that through this theater experience, I felt a new emotion and realized that the fictional world is so similar to the real world!
A. R. B.-1^E-Liceo Scacchi
When we arrived in front of the theater, I was overwhelmed by one particular sense of AMAZEMENT: first of all, the building was so large and majestic, like a palace. After going inside, I realized that the true beauty lay within, not on the outside. We took our seats and waited in silence for the show to begin: “Six Characters in Search of an Author.” The play is about six mysterious characters who suddenly interrupt the actors on stage, tell them they were created by an author who abandoned them, and ask to be let into the play so they can become real. After seeing this play, I couldn’t hide my AMAZEMENT because I loved the transition from the real world to the fictional one so much.
After returning home, the first thing I thought of was writing about this experience in my journal, because I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything that filled me with such AMAZEMENT. In the end, I can say that through this theater experience, I felt a new emotion and realized that the fictional world is so similar to the real world!
A. R. B.-1^E-Liceo Scacchi
The Chest of Emotions
Sometimes we know a Place has touched us, but we can’t explain why. This is exactly where the project begins: learning to recognize and name the emotions of Places.
Giving them a name makes them more visible, helps us understand them, and teaches us how to move through them.
When they are beautiful, we can experience them with greater intensity and learn to consciously find them again.
When they are beautiful, we can experience them with greater intensity and learn to consciously find them again.
The Emotional Atlas of Enchantment
THE INSPIRATION
Before the Atlas, there was a story
The year is 2024. While the Power Agency spreads negative emotions, the ancient Romantic School trains the “Seekers,” figures able to reveal the Wonder: the beautiful emotion kept within every Place.
Faced with an unusual wave of negativity, the Magister summons back the Seeker, the School’s most gifted, who withdrew months earlier. The young man accepts the mission only in the hope of finding traces of the Transmuter, his mentor, who mysteriously disappeared.
Flanked by an insecure Measurer and a competitive Apprentice, the Seeker arrives in Bari in search of a new Wonder. His sensitivity, however, has grown numb. It will be his encounter with the Keeper of the Place that lets him reawaken his talent and, at last, give the Wonder its name.
Flanked by an insecure Measurer and a competitive Apprentice, the Seeker arrives in Bari in search of a new Wonder. His sensitivity, however, has grown numb. It will be his encounter with the Keeper of the Place that lets him reawaken his talent and, at last, give the Wonder its name.
BECOME A WONDERSEEKER
Find a Place. Recognize its Wonder. Tell its story.
1. Choose how to shoot your video
You're free to choose between two formats:
• • Option A – Voice-over: frame only the Place, without appearing on camera, while your voice tells the story.
• • Option B – Selfie video: frame yourself close up, with the Place clearly visible behind you, speaking to the camera.
2. The formula to recite in your video
In your video, share these 4 key pieces of information, in this exact order:
1. Where you are (state the name of the place, whether natural or urban)
2. The Name of the Enchantment (identify the emotion evoked by the place and choose its name from the Chest of Emotions)
3. The Emotional Shade (share a brief personal anecdote, poem, imagined story, or a piece of music that the place evokes)
4. Your Name (or Seeker Nickname)
Example: “I am here at San Nicola Pier in Bari. The name of the Enchantment is Suspension. The Emotional Shade is: I feel as though I am floating between the sky and the sea, with no sense of hurry. I am Michele, Seeker of Enchantment.”
3. Send in your contribution
Send your video to cercatoridellincanto@gmail.com.
Once validated, your video will officially become part of the Emotional Atlas of Wonder..
Credits
Created by Zefirofiu
The project “Do You Want to Become a Wonderseeker?” was born from the vision of Zefirofiu, an independent production company from Puglia that sees audiovisual content as an opportunity for individual and social growth, and that curated the project’s technical realization and workshops.
With the support of the Ministry of Culture
In collaboration with
Institutional Partner – “A. Scacchi” State Science Lyceum of Bari
This work was carried out as part of a project funded under the Special Projects program of the Ministry of Culture (MiC) – Directorate General for Cinema and Audiovisual, with the co-participation of the “A. Scacchi” State Science Lyceum.
Scientific Partner – Department of Education, Psychology and Communication Sciences, University of Bari
The FORPSICOM Department supports the project with its scientific contribution, strengthening its research dimension and the study of the relationship between Places, emotions, and the local community.
With the contribution of
Fondazione Puglia supports the project and its development, contributing to the promotion of an initiative dedicated to the beauty of Places and the emotional dimension of experience.
Department for Knowledge – City of Bari contributed to the realization of the project, recognizing its educational value and its connection to the territory.