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Welcome to Your Daily Dot where Dot will share tips, advice, and stories on how we can make our world better.
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All Dear Dot illustrations by Elissa Turnbull.
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Dear Reader,
Dot is often guilty of declaring something “awesome,” whether it be a plan, the weather, or a meal. But do I really mean it? After all, awe, almost by definition, is somewhat out of the ordinary, inspired by something that transcends our day to day, that makes us feel small in the best way but also part of something bigger than ourselves.
And awe, argues Rainn Wilson, aka Dwight from The Office, “is a gateway to deeper environmental healing.” How? It starts, he says, by … getting outside. Paying attention to nature.
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Dacher Keltner, the author of Awe: The New Science of Everyday Wonder and How It Can Transform Your Life (available on Amazon and Thriftbooks), is perhaps the world’s most pre-eminent awe expert — though I know a few preschoolers who regularly experience true awe, often
while examining an ant, or a leaf, or their hand. Awe, insists Keltner, is the antidote for cynicism and, he says, our most human emotion. And he agrees with Rainn Wilson, saying that “Awe is going to be critical to fighting climate change.” So how can we cultivate more of it in our lives, especially right now, when cynicism comes so easy?
There are a few simple things we can do, including opening ourselves up to curiosity and wonder, stepping outside, and setting aside preconceived ideas. Keltner recommends that we tune into what he calls the Eight Wonders of Life, which include nature, of course, but also moral beauty (stories of courage), collective movement (dance, for instance), and music of all kinds.
We know true awe when we experience it, either in the moment or reflecting later. We might gasp, or find ourselves smiling, or be aware that worries and concerns have temporarily vanished. We might be at a concert, gazing at the night sky, witnessing a birth or a death, or observing the murmuration of birds in this season of migration. Chloe Hope of the Death and Birds newsletter urges us to be “attuned,” to
be “present in equal measure to intensity and mystery, as willing to welcome pain, grief, and fear at my table as I am love, beauty, and awe.”
There is awe all around us. Just ask a three-year-old who’s mesmerized by a spider web. And when we start really noticing it, we have no choice but to commit to, as Wilson puts it, environmental healing. We will protect what we love, what nourishes us.
And consider this: Even photographs can evoke awe. Don’t believe me? Check out the photographs of Yasmin Namini for Bluedot Living’s At Home on Earth feature.
Have some awe of your own you want to share with us? Please do.
Oh, and if you want to kickstart your awe practice, check out this great essay about how one week of sleeping outdoors can, literally, change your life.
Searchingly,
Dot
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