Cultivating Awe. The science of tapping into a new aspect of a familiar landscape.
The world is full of magic things, patiently waiting for our senses to grow sharper.” ― W.B. Yeats
The New Science of Everyday Wonder: How Cultivating Awe Can Transform Your Life
“We are so busy managing our lives,” says the Irish poet and author John o’Donohue, that “we forget this great mystery we’re involved in.” This thing we called life, is indeed, a great mystery.
People think they understand things because they become familiar with them, but this is only superficial knowledge. The real magic happens when we stayed curious of our world, the less difficult it becomes to live naturally.
Because the moment we stop allowing ourselves to explore this vast mystery, that’s the moment we stop getting it right. And so today, let’s pull back the curtain by exploring ways to see things differently. and to cultivate awe moments in our daily lives.
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The New Science of Everyday Wonder: How Cultivating Awe Can Transform Your Life
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Fish In the Sea, You Know How I Feel.
In his 2005 commencement speech, American novelist, short story writer, David Foster Wallace tells his now-infamous story about the two young fish swimming in the sea, to the graduating class at Kenyon College.
The story begins with the two fishes swimming next to one another, and then came an older fish approaching from the other end of sea. The old fish nodded to the two young lads, then says “Morning, boys. How’s the water?”
The two young fish swum on for a bit, not really paying attention to what the old fish had said.
After reaching a great distance, one of them looks over at the other and goes: “What the hell is water?”
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What so interesting about that story is the fact that “Fish don’t know they’re in water.
According to entrepreneur Derek Sivers, same can also be said about human’s cultures.
“We’re surrounded by it,” says Sivers, “that it is impossible to see.”
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If this isn’t nice, what is?
In one of his controversial speeches to graduating students in the mid-west, American writer and humorist, Kurt Vonnegut shared a wholesome story about his beloved uncle Alex, that ended up shifting some of the student’s perspective on life.
As mentioned by Vonnegut, uncle Alex was a simple man.
To that, Vonnegut admired him dearly.
During the summertime, explains Vonnegut, him and uncle Alex would often sit under a tree, in the shades, drinking a couple glasses of lemonade, when suddenly uncle Alex would interrupt the flow of the conversation, stating ‘If this isn’t nice, what is?‘
Sure, there might have been a lot to complain about, many reasons to express dissatisfaction about the situation, but Uncle Alex never once complained.
Instead, he was grateful for the fact that he gets to drink a simple lemonade with one of his favorite’s human beings, and couldn’t ask for more.
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“Whining” as I’ve come to believe, is a dangerous habit.
American memoirist and poet Dr. Maya Angelou explains that “It can alert a brute that a victim is in the neighborhood.”
“Essentially, we don’t realize how much waste is in it,” says Angelou, “how distracted and inefficient it makes us.” In today’s world, there’s plenty of unfortunate events you can complaint about, but there’s also a lot of things that you can be grateful for. It It all depends on your perspective, how you interpret an event, situation, or an idea. At the end of the day, different people may see the same thing entirely differently based on their individual perspective.
Civilization can wear us down.
Sexism, racism, politics,―all has the capacity to do their numbers on us. But in spite of it all, we can all choose to find awe-inspiring moments in our daily, mundane life.
As of today, I would like for you to put all concerns on pause for just one day, and go wander somewhere.
Listen intently to the sound of the rain. the sound of snow crunching under your boots, the changing colors of leaves in autumn. Think about the vastness, the mysteries of the world around you. How will you tap into your five senses this holiday season to become aware of a new aspect of a familiar landscape?
Who knows, you might be in for a pleasant surprise.
Closing thoughts
Have you experienced any “awe-inspiring moment” that you’d like to share with us?
Let us know in the comment below.
As always, thank you for reading.
Till next time, stay blessed my friend.
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