Help! I Need More Awe
A few friends and I have felt a bit deflated lately. We are feeling beaten down by the recent Covid surge, political bickering, fires and smoke, and the drought. We need something to ignite our optimism and recharge our batteries.
Normally this time of year I could depend on my annual trip to Burning Man to come to the rescue. But unfortunately, due to Covid, it has been cancelled for the last 2 years. And without my annual trip to the desert my life feels less rich and vibrant. I have been trying to figure out why, and I believe it is because I haven’t had my annual megadose of awe and wonder.
I leave Burning Man every year with my awe and wonder bucket full. It is easy to find awe in the desert, surrounded by boundless nature and beautiful, mind-blowing art (40-foot-tall birthday cake anyone?). Engulfed in music you not only hear but feel as it pulses and reverberates through your body and where surprises exist around every corner.
I get goosebumps just thinking about it! I’m fairly certain Burning Man has never been referred to as such, but it is like the Costco of awe…supersized awe everywhere you look.
To successfully navigate the midlife journey awe is essential – and the more the better! Unfortunately, it is easy in midlife for the ability to experience awe to seem beyond reach. When one is busy with work, kids, and life in general who has time to seek out awe?
In addition, midlife can be a time of disillusionment – of unrealized hopes, dreams, and goals. The shadows of these loom large blocking out awe. And in our disillusionment, it is easy to turn inward and feel disconnected from others.
And yet I would argue this is the time in our lives when we need awe the most. Awe can help us see what is possible. To see the millions of possibilities the future holds. It can help us feel more connected to others and to humanity at large.
I don’t know about you, but I want more awe in my life! I want to live a vibrant life, connected to others, and to feel grateful for my time on this planet. Awe is the answer!
Awe is Awesome!
So, what is awe? Psychologists Dacher Keltner and Jonathan Haidt posit, “Awe is a complex emotion that can be difficult to define. Feelings of awe can be positive or negative—unlike most other emotions—and can arise from a wide range of stimuli. In a landmark 2003 paper, they…suggested that awe experiences can be characterized by two phenomena: “perceived vastness” and a “need for accommodation.” Think of things bigger than yourself or outside your normal frame of reference, where your brain must work to make room for new possibilities.
Another way to think of awe is as a state of altered consciousness, not just an emotion. Per a paper by the Greater Good Science Center at UC Berkeley, “Awe experiences are self-transcendent. They shift our attention away from ourselves, make us feel like we are part of something greater than ourselves, and make us more generous toward others.”
And how do you know when you are experiencing awe? “Studies have found that feelings of awe can be accompanied by heart rate changes, “goosebumps,” and the sensation of chills.”
In Why You Need to Protect Your Sense of Wonder — Especially Now, the authors suggest, “More than ever we need ways to recharge our energy, calm our anxieties, and practice self-care. Seeking out moments that inspire awe or wonder…can help you achieve these goals.” There is also some evidence to suggest awe may also increase people’s sense of satisfaction with their life!
And if you aren’t convinced yet why you need more awe in your life, it is good for your health! “A 2015 study (Stellar et al., 2015) looked at the effects of different positive emotions on chronic inflammation. Awe was the only positive emotion to reduce inflammation significantly, and the reduction was proportionate to the amount of “awe, wonder, and amazement that day.”
How To Get More Awe In Your Life
So now you are convinced you need more awe in your life, how do you do it? Fortunately, we do not have to work too hard. “Awe and wonder are accessible to all. Our brain is wired for it.” Dacher Keltner believes “awe is a fundamental human emotion, one that evolved in us because it promotes altruistic behavior…it’s advantageous for the species to have an emotion that makes us feel part of something much larger than ourselves. (Michael Pollan, How to Change Your Mind, p. 373)
Try being open to new experiences. Research has shown people more open to new experiences experience awe more often. In the Women in the Middle podcast, Episode 11, Suzy Rosenstein says to practice “radical amazement.” Every day, look at the world in a way which takes nothing for granted.
Being grateful and practicing gratitude also makes it easier to experience awe. Since I adopted a regular gratitude practice, I know I experience awe more regularly.
Seek out opportunities to be in nature. Nature tops the list for eliciting feelings of awe. Try an “awe walk.” Get outside for 15-20 minutes. But before you head out prime your brain by setting an intention to experience awe. Then go outside, no matter where you are and find things to marvel at…it could be the beauty of a flower blooming despite the drought, the trunk and limbs of a magnificent oak tree, or a beautiful sunset.
Interact with art and music and keep an eye out for objects of profound beauty. Going to Burning Man is my favorite way of doing this but there are others. And I know firsthand this works! After our first trip to Burning Man, my husband came back a changed man. He was more open to strangers, kinder and had more empathy.
Spiritual and religious experiences are well documented for producing feelings of awe. As are the accomplishments of others. I experienced this recently while watching Rising Phoenix, a documentary about the Paralympics. I had goosebumps while listening to the athletes share their stories of grit and determination in overcoming incredible obstacles.
I now try and find one thing every day which is awe-inspiring. Candidly, I am most successful when I am in nature, even for a short time. One of my favorite instances occurred this past summer while I was on the east coast. I was walking in the woods after a rainstorm and came across the most amazing mushrooms. I have never seen anything like them. They took my breath away with their fragile, mysterious, ghostly whiteness.
I’m convinced if we stop, pause, look, and listen, awe and wonder exist everywhere around us.
Parting Thought
“The redwoods, once seen, leave a mark or create a vision that stays with you always. No one has ever successfully painted or photographed a redwood tree. The feeling they produce is not transferable. From them comes silence and awe. It's not only their unbelievable stature, nor the color which seems to shift and vary under your eyes, no, they are not like any trees we know, they are ambassadors from another time.” John Steinbeck, Travels with Charley: In Search of America.
Find some awe today, tomorrow and the next.
See you next week…
