Barefoot Corporate Warrior: Winter 2023
Paul Bird explores being Awestruck – From Awe-some to Awe-full
I sometimes lapse into being a truly awe-full person.
My more cynical mates and acquaintances chuckle into their beards or launch a humour-laden putdown when I gush forth awestruck.
My awe-full side manifests in what seem to others to be naïve and childlike admiration – for the grace and skill of elite athletes, for nature’s beauty, for the latest astronomical discovery, or observations of oft-ignored actions, views and achievements which on the face of it seem almost mundane.
Critics have pointed out that some of my awe-full statements are actually statements of the bleedin’ obvious – so why voice them at all? Why not?
Yes, it takes some courage and a certain lack-of-self-consciousness to continue to voice awe in the face of the bored and jaded voices which abound in our hyper-critical world. I have come to a position of allowing myself to slip into states of awe for the everyday as well as the once-in-a-lifetime spectacles – despite, and sometimes in spite of, the reactions of others. It has become a guiltless pleasure and I revel in the cacophony of moans which often greet me.
The good news for me and other awestruck individuals is that a growing body of evidence points to the benefits
of experiencing awe on a regular basis.
As it turns out, ‘awe’ is a human experience that is now the subject of serious study. Its place in our societal hierarchies, our relation to nature and each other, as well as our own mental and emotional wellbeing is a focus for evolutionary and clinical researchers.
There is actually a developing science of awe which is revealing that awe is good for us at a physiological level. But we already knew that didn’t we?
There are categories of the types of awe, emotions of awe and claims that awe can provide us with a calmer and more positive life experience.
First of all, is awe an emotion? It seems that it is a feeling based on emotion or emotions.
Wikipedia defines awe as an emotion comparable to wonder but less joyous. Descriptions of it indicate it can be derived from both surprise and fear.
There is also mention of a ‘reverential respect mixed with fear or wonder’. So, while awe seems to be overwhelmingly associated with positive feelings, there is also the potential for negative awe-emotions.
It’s easy to succumb to world-weariness as a kind of badge-of-honour.
Have you forgotten what the experience of awe is? Is it absent from your life? Do you shrug and turn away from potential awe experiences?
A quick refresher might help.
As is often the case, children – us in a more pure form – provide the clues on how to experience true awe.
Have a look at the YouTube videos of babies in tunnels/emerging from tunnels. Here is awe in its purest and most primitive (or sophisticated) manifestation. The wide-eyed wonder and evident concentration is in-the-moment stuff writ large.
While some seem shocked as they move into the tunnel and become aware of the change in the environment there is full engagement with the moment, the experience – they are fully there – even though they do not understand what is going on. There is no judgement only observation and experience.
It’s not only funny but inspiring.
Awe can bring us to the moment if we allow it – to get us out of the addictive mind-fodder which both nourishes and depletes us.
I think there is both little awe and big awe. The Southern Alps of New Zealand from height is a big awe moment. Watching clothes in motion as they flap in a summer breeze is a little awe moment (although it could be a big too).
It seems the key is being open, unabashed and unashamed to the possibility, the sensation, the potential for awe in all its forms… in any given moment or circumstance.
There is also a place for self-awe to help foster a healthy self-esteem.
As long as it does not feed narcissistic tendencies, a little bit of self-awe from time-to-time seems to be a good thing.
Smashed that exam? Over-delivered on a work project? Achieved a physical milestone? I am awesome! (Perhaps best to not say any of this out loud – strictly internal conversation stuff).
As mentioned, awe can also be associated with fear or dread. An erupting volcano might fit this category.
Being open and without judgement to this side of awe takes a certain calmness and familiarity with both the emotion as well as our own reaction or response to our own emotional state.
There is a lot of talk about how our technologically-driven and increasingly urbanised society has allowed us to lose touch with our nature selves.
Awe can help us keep daily struggles in perspective, provide a coping mechanism and imbue us with an optimistic and sanguine view of life and death.
Surely awe is a bridge back to our earlier selves, a way of re-connecting with the simple observance of natural objects and manifestations as a connection to a time when our fate was intertwined with the natural world.
Awe doesn’t just fall from the sky though. It needs to be cultivated to emerge, grow and bloom.
Operating on an “awe-alert” posture will help us re-discover and nurture awe.
So, when you next sprout forth with an awe-some phrase or observance, only to be met with the mocking derision of the world-weary awe-amnesiacs, smile and bask in the glow.
Being awe-full rather than simply wallowing in the sometimes awful zeitgeist of our age is absolutely awe-some!
