1. Putting the 'Awe' into 'Awesome'!

To me Awe is the feeling of something that is bigger than myself, it transcends who I am as an individual. Awe gives me a sense of the ‘bigger picture’ of life. One of my favorite emotion researchers Dacher Keltner describes awe as “the feeling of something vast that transcends your understanding of the world”. Awe brings out the wonder and the curiosity within ourselves and is commonly found in nature and other people. Awe can be experienced in the moments in life that take your breath away like the birth of a child, a stunning sunset, religious experiences, a mountain vista, beautiful music, amazing food, and a full moon. Daily life is full of Awe experiences but we just need to slow down and notice them. Have you ever watched a bumble bee working its field of flowers or looked up at the sky and noticed the cloud formations? Have you ever witnessed a beautiful act of human kindness like the touch of a hand to support someone that transforms both people in a moment?

Why is Awe good for your wellbeing?

Scientists are just beginning to understand the complexity of the Awe emotion but research shows that Awe feels good and brings out other positive emotions such as joy, happiness and gratitude. Combined with curiosity, amazement and wonder Awe makes us more generous and is linked to better physical health. Awe sharpens our minds, makes us feel small, keeps us in the moment as time seems to expand and helps us realise there is more to life than just ourselves.

It is important to note that not all Awe experiences have positive effects and Awe experiences can induce fear and powerlessness such as war or natural disasters.

From an evolutionary perspective Awe experiences allowed groups to cooperate together especially during uncertain circumstances. With my experiences of living through the Christchurch Earthquakes this certainly was true for the Canterbury community where people bonded together like never before, but I definitely felt scared and out of control most of the time!

In daily life there are many Awe experiences but we get so caught up in ‘busy’ that we forget to notice them. My first ‘19 for 19’ day challenge was to notice the Awe moments, take a photo and really enjoy the experience of Awe. I chose to do this challenge when we were on our annual camping holiday as I knew there would be many chances for Awe moments. I found Awe in my: morning runs with wonder-filled beach sunrises; lovely family times; the most amazing weather and that we were all in the ‘holiday mode’ to really appreciate it. I think the true challenge is to look for Awe in everyday life. One of my favorite photos is of before we went on holiday and I cleaned out my drink bottle drawer. Usually we have drink bottles everywhere around the house and it drives me crazy. So I cleaned them all out, matched up the right lids with the right bottles and set them in the drawer. Now every time I open that drawer I experience an Awe moment and it is like I hear angels singing “Hallelujah”. The bottles are all lined up beautifully! Even when my boys opened up the drawer, sounds like “wow” and “cool” flowed from their mouths!!! I would like to do this challenge again but not during holiday time when life is rosy filled with fun activities and adventures. I want to do it when it’s ‘groundhog day’, in the middle of winter, struggling away as that is when I need the benefits of experiencing Awe in my life!!!

It is important to note Awe is found in novelty, if you do the same Awe inspiring activity over and over again it will not feel Awesome for very long and it may even start to feel AWFUL!

So go ahead be AWESOME!