Awe: A great addition to our daily routines
Picture of northern lights over mountain range with words “Seek Awe”.
Daily Routines: Considering our current daily choices
What occupations (things you need, want or are expected to do with your time) do you consider essential each day? Likely, eating and sleeping are two things that we all can agree make our daily list. What else do you do so routinely, so automatically, that you barely even think about it?
Are there any ways you spend your time that you do because you know they fuel the rest of your day and make others aspects of life function better? Perhaps you move your body, have some sort of spiritual routine (i.e. meditation, prayer, or other daily reading), work, or play.
Today we’re invited to look at how adding a practice of intentionally seeking moments of awe has the potential to be one of the best choices we can make each day.
What does awe mean?
Awe is a feeling— a felt sense that some may describe using words like “amazing, surprising, wonder, transcendence”. [1] Michelle Shiota and Jonah Paquette are two researchers who specialize in the study of awe. Both talk about how awe has the ability to calm our nervous systems, reduce our stress, and improve our mood. Two key characteristics of an awe invoking experiencing are “vastness” — how it connects us to something bigger than we previously noticed or could explain, (seeing an eclipse, feeling in awe that we have technology that allows to speak to someone across the world and see them in real time, or noticing how perfectly designed a flower or the dots on the back of an insect happen to be) and transcendence. Transcendence is described as the feeling we have when we try on or seek to make sense of this new found information or experience. [2,3]
Why prioritizing awe is an important consideration for all
There are many benefits to experiencing awe— it has the ability to: [3]
improve our mood (not just in the moment but with longer lasting benefits)
calm our nervous systems
increase our generosity and kindness
increase our happiness and satisfaction with life
When our nervous systems are calmed, our stress levels decrease, and our sense of connection to something bigger than ourselves can increase. Taking just 5-10 minutes per day to intentionally seek and experience awe gives us practice at feeling good and also not knowing everything. It may seem that it is easy for us to feel good— why would we need to practice? When our nervous systems have plenty of reasons to experience feeling unsafe— feeling good can feel like danger, so training our brains and bodies to be able to experience more positive emotions becomes especially helpful during times like these. Both experiences can be true— and figuring out where to focus our energy helps us make the choices that work best for that time.
An awe experience
Just listening to a piece of music (have you ever listened to a song and been amazed at how these people, these instruments, and the construction of such a song all came together to result in what you are listening to right now. That this music speaks to you in ways that are not easily put into words?— likely you are experiencing awe), looking more closely at a plant and the way it grows and produces fruit or all the players so to speak that come together to make that one item possible, can put us in a state of awe.
Putting awe into practice
One method suggested is to take an awe walk each day— intentionally get outdoors and see what catches your attention. What amazes or inspires you to have a closer look. Shiota describes this shifting our minds to awe as that feeling of taking off constricting clothing, like a corset. It takes our minds off that narrow, focused understanding of the world and expand our awareness to allow its fullness to take up the space.[3]
Yesterday, we invited you to notice the plant, Solidago/goldenrod. If you like to have a more focused area to know where to start looking for awe experiences, perhaps the reflection below may be of help.
For me, Solidago creates a sense of awe— how did I just learn a year ago (that’s over 40 years of not knowing) what this plant was? How is it that 90% or more of the people I have talked to about it never knew what it was either or if they did, they had common misperceptions of this plant? How did I not realize what an important role this plant plays in making our health and well-being possible— that in providing pollen and nectar for insects it makes so much more of life possible for all of us— human and non-humans. How does knowing this plant exists cultivate gratitude, curiosity and humility? Such a beautiful plant and symbol of confidence in doing your thing, even if others don’t understand your purpose— who or what else have I overlooked when I was zoomed in too closely or not really taking in all the possibilities that surround us? How freeing it is to realize the likelihood that many, many more Solidago like opportunities exist that I simply have yet to notice— that we all do.
Fresh senses lead to a more open heart and mind. How might we be more purposeful with seeking awe in our daily lives?
[1] https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/topic/awe/definition
[2] https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/six_ways_to_incorporate_awe_into_your_daily_life
[3] https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2021/06/29/1010319240/stuck-in-a-rut-sometimes-joy-takes-a-little-practice
