Awe: what it is and how to find it
The childlike, magical, wondrous feeling of awe isn't just wonderful to experience, it can promote mental and physical health and wellbeing.
The feeling of awe is all-encompassing, complex, and self-transcendent. It’s like something is so wonderful or amazing or incredible to experience that your brain literally can’t handle it. It’s likely to make you feel intense feelings of gratitude or inspiration, make you feel more connected to the world and others, make you remember what really matters.
It’s difficult to define awe, but most people can point to a few experiences they can recall where they easily experienced awe. Like if you’ve ever hiked to the summit of a mountain and stood there looking around at the view, or dancing to your favorite song with strangers at a concert, or if you’ve ever seen the Taj Mahal or something crazy like that.
It’s proven that experiencing awe is beneficial for your overall health and wellbeing. That’s because awe enhances your mental health- it makes you feel all good and fuzzy about the world while also decreasing your stress levels, in both the short and long term. Awe transforms your sense of self and elevates your sense of meaning. It can make you feel smaller, in a good way. Like you’re part of a bigger whole. In that sense, it can foster connection as you might feel more empathetic or understanding of the world and others. It also just makes life feel truly magical. And I think that finding magic is one of the best parts of life.
It’s commonly understood that awe is only experienced with something extraordinary- something rare, special, grand, indescribable (like the examples I gave prior). But in actuality, it’s much more attainable. Awe can be experienced in everyday moments. You can have that wondrous, magical, expansive feeling whenever you’re willing and open to go find it.
Finding awe involves slowing down. Noticing details. Cultivating a sense of wonder. Taking the time to really appreciate how beautiful or complex something is, and noticing how it makes you feel. You might be able to find awe in nature, or art, or human connection. Or maybe in trying something new that you haven’t before.
Here are some ways to help you find awe:
1. Slow down
Linger. Soak in your surroundings. Slow down. Create space for awe. While going on a walk, stop and sit on a bench for a minute. Appreciate how beautiful it is when sunlight filters through the leaves and branches, casting shadows and patterns. Stop and watch how bees travel from one flower to the next. Water your plants and stop to admire how vibrant the leaves are or how intricately complex they are, when you really look close.
2. Connect with nature
Awe is most often experienced in nature. To me, this wasn’t surprising to learn. I personally love being outside, and whenever I’m outside I feel so good. If I’m able to be really present in the moment and take everything in, it can be overwhelming how good it feels. How pretty the sunlight filtering through leaves and branches are, how cute the squirrels are chasing each other up trees, how sweet and warm the sunshine feels on my skin. Allow yourself to be awed by nature’s beauty and majesty.
3. Practice mindfulness and gratitude
Being present in the moment can help you uncover moments of wonder, beauty, or joy that might have gone unnoticed otherwise. Tune into your senses. Sink into your awareness of the colors, textures, scents, sounds, and sights that connect us to the world. Reflect on the things you notice, that bring you feelings of gratitude. Call them out specifically. The laughter of someone you love, the immense deliciousness of a chocolate cupcake you’re eating, the sparkling beauty of sunshine reflecting on water. Acknowledge the abundance in your life. It will help you have a deeper appreciation of the wonders that surround you, helping to cultivate that sense of awe.
4. Seek something new
Awe can be found with new experiences or surroundings. Travel, whether to a new town or city or country. Visit a museum, an art gallery, a park. See a show, or concert, or ballet. Go to a lake or river, a hike in the woods. Try something new and allow yourself to be immersed in the surroundings. You’ll be able to expand your understandings of the world and your sense of self.
5. Be curious and thoughtful
Allow yourself to be surprised, inspired. Delighted by the wonders of the world. Think and wonder without immediately looking up the answers. Stargaze and wonder how many stars there are, or how it would feel to see Earth from space, or what the night sky looked like thousands of years ago. The more you let yourself wonder, the more wondrous the world becomes.
To me, awe is all about letting yourself get swept away with the wonder and magic in everyday moments. You might not be at a cafe in Paris, but you can still immensely enjoy and appreciate how delicious your breakfast is in the comfort of your cute and cozy apartment. You might not be at the base of a waterfall in Costa Rica, but you can still feel inspired by beauty while sitting under a tree at a park, admiring how intricate the leaves are and how lovely the puffy clouds are in the sky. You don’t need to save those feelings of amazement for the big moments. I promise that the small moments can have just as much awe and enjoyment. It’s up to you!
Here is a personal gallery of recent moments where I experienced awe in nature.
In a movie I watched and loved, Perfect Days, I learned about the word “komorebi.” It’s a Japanese word for sunlight that is filtered through the leaves of trees. I absolutely love komorebi and is such a source of awe for me.
Please share something that is a source of awe for you! I’d love to hear :)
Lots of love,
Rach
Sources
The Science of Awe by The Greater Good Science Center at UC Berkeley
Awe: The New Science of Everyday Wonder and How It Can Transform Your Life by Dacher Keltner
My source if awe is my niece, i observe her for hours how she discovers the world around her
Love this ❤️