(I stole my headline from the orange juice advertising campaign, but I trust you’ll forgive me.)
The longer I play with awe, the clearer it becomes that most of us misunderstand it.
Awe is not something you should experience only on your summer vacation to the Matterhorn or Grand Canyon. It should be a vital part of your daily life.
Consider, for example, that there are about 7,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 (7 octillion) atoms in your body (according to The Guardian).
Feeling it yet?
If not, consider the fact that none of these 7,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 atoms ever touch each other, even though they are packed inside you. (The closer atoms get, the more repulsion there is between the electrical charges on their component parts.)
Now?
Each of these atoms is billions of years old. So, if you’re feeling old because you are something like 46 or 52 years old today, you’re wrong by a factor of a few billion years.
Here’s a lovely section that The Washington Post published in 2016:
It’s plausible that your carbon atoms were once part of volcanoes, giant redwoods, Apatosauruses, diamonds, plastic bottles, snakes, snails, lichens, nematodes, photosynthetic algae, the very first cells. It’s certain that your carbon saw the interior of a star, survived a supernova, sailed through the solar system and splashed down on Earth long before arriving at you. Breathe in and marvel at that fact.
So far, I’ve just used a few science facts to nudge you towards awe. But you can do a much better job on your own.
Any time you 100% inhabit the present moment, you experience awe. The past and future fall away. Any sense of time disappears. Stillness connects you to the furthest reaches of the Universe.
If this hasn’t happened to you recently, it’s because you haven’t been still long enough to fully inhabit the present moment.
My point is pretty simple: when it comes to awe, your expectations should be much, much higher. Every day should fill you with awe or you’re not (yet) paying enough attention to your daily life.
100%, Skip! I agree with everything you said.
Great post, Bruce! Most of us are moving so fast that we feel that we can't take the time for "awe." Yet, for our own sanity, that is exactly what we must do. It goes back to the old expression about stopping to smell the roses. Then, take a long, hard look at that rose and the intricate structure of the petals and the leaves on the stems. It really is all very breathtaking and awe inspiring.