What was the first thing you thought of when you read the title of this post? A magnificent scene in nature? Beautiful music? A newborn baby? These are some common responses I hear when I ask people what awe means to them.
In the book Awe: The New Science of Everyday Wonder and How It Can Transform Your Life, Dr. Dacher Keltner describes awe as “the feeling of being in the presence of something vast that transcends your current understanding of the world” (p. 7). Do you agree or disagree with that? What would you add?
How Do You View Awe?
Dr. Keltner and a colleague conducted interviews in twenty-six countries around the world to discover how people view awe today, then ranked the answers based on common themes. Their research included 2,600 narratives, and the findings surprised me. When asked what people found awe-inspiring, the number one answer was “moral courage” or “other people’s courage, kindness, strength, or overcoming” (p. 11). Nature ranked third and music fourth. The answers differed a bit by country but generally were very consistent.
This book is not an easy read, and I think it’s important. It describes experiences of awe as transformative, changing who we are and how we see ourselves in the world. Dr. Keltner sums this up in the following paragraph:
In moments of awe, then we shift from the sense that we are solely in charge of our own fate and striving against others to feeling we are part of a community, sharing essential qualities, interdependent and collaborating. Awe expands what philosopher Peter Singer calls the circle of care, the network of people we feel kindness toward. (p. 40)
Everyday Awe
I don’t think it’s a political statement to say that our world is very divided right now. In the long term, this is not going to be good for all people or for our earth. As I read the book, I kept wondering: How can we encourage people to become more conscious of the awe experiences in their lives? At one point Dr. Keltner talks about what he calls “everyday awe,” those daily experiences of noticing something and feeling a sense of wonder or curiosity or mystery. If we pay attention, we will find these all around us. And when we do, we may experience that brief moment of feeling part of the whole—the interdependence of all people and other living things.
What Is Your “Whoa” Moment?
As with many things we’d like to change, the place to start is with ourselves. Would you be willing to start noting at least one thing a day that makes you feel even a small “whoa” moment? It could be something outside while you’re on a walk or just walking from the car to where you live. Or it might be something you observe another person doing. It might be the antics of a child or of a pet. As you begin to be aware of everyday awe experiences in your daily life, they may not be large, earth-shattering events, but the wonder all around you that you hadn’t really noticed. When you begin to do this on a regular basis, you can then encourage someone else to do the same and explain how doing so has brought a different dimension to your life.
If you decide to become more attuned to the everyday awe around you, please let us know below what your experiences have been. We can all learn from each other. So Women Over 50: What Does Awe Mean to You?
Is what I’m suggesting making a big deal out of what is a very small drop in the bucket of our divisions and feelings of separateness? Yes. And at some point, very small drops fill a bucket. Good luck!
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