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 are involved in.”
In today’s post, we’ll explore the new science of everyday wonder, and how cultivating awe can transform your Life.
Keep on reading because we’re going to pull back the curtain, shed some light to empower you to see things differently.
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The New Science of Everyday Wonder: How Cultivating Awe Can Transform Your Life
Being struck by these vast mysteries and wanting to explore them, is foundational to experiencing awe moments in our lives.
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Fish In the Sea, You Know How I Feel.
In his 2005 commencement speech, American novelist and short story writer, David Foster Wallace told―his now-infamous story about the two young fish, to the graduating class at Kenyon College.
The story begins with these two young fish swimming along. Then came an older fish approaching from the other end. He nodded to them. Then says “Morning, boys. How’s the water?”
The two young fish swim on for a bit.
Then one of them looks over at the other and goes: “What the hell is water?”
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Entrepreneur Derek Sivers also reminds us that, “Fish don’t know they’re in water.
According Sivers, the same can 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?
American writer and humorist, Kurt Vonnegut was a well-known controversial speaker who’d often give speeches to graduating students.
In one of these gathering, Vonnegut shared a story about his beloved uncle, Alex that ended up shifting some of the student’s perspective on life.
See, uncle Alex was a simple man.
And Vonnegut admired him dearly for his simplicity.
During the summertime, him and uncle Alex be drinking lemonade under the shades, when suddenly Uncle Alex interrupt the flow to say, ‘If this isn’t nice, what is?‘
Uncle Alex wasn’t complaining about the experience of drinking a simple drink such as a lemonade, instead, he was grateful for the fact that he gets to drink a simple lemonade with one of his favorite’s human beings.
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In her book, Wouldn’t Take Nothing for My Journey Now, American memoirist and poet Dr. Maya Angelou also emphasizes how “Whining” can be a dangerous habit.
She says, “It can alert a brute that a victim is in the neighborhood.” Essentially, we don’t realize how much waste is in it, how distracted and inefficient it makes us.
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Civilization can wear us down.
Sexism, racism, ideology, politics, ―all has the capacity to do their numbers on us, however we can all choose to find awe-inspiring moments in our daily, mundane life.
So, as of today, I want you to put all concerns on pause and go wander somewhere. Listen intently to the sound of the rain. Think about the vastness, the mysteries of the world around you. In other words, cultivate the muscle to become aware of a new aspect of a familiar landscape.
View it from a different perspective.
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.
And as always, thank you for reading.
God bless. Till next time.
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