A Moment of Awe

Photo borrowed from National Geographic.

Tonight I was flipping through my copy of “O! The Oprah Magazine” tonight and came across an article titled, “The Wonder of It All.”  I was intrigued.  It was about “awe” and what that does to us and what that means to us. 

“Awe is what we feel when faced with something sublime, exceptional, or altogether beyond comprehension.”  Dacher Keltner, PhD, wrote a book titled Born to be Good and he examines more nuanced sensations, such as compassion, forgiveness, humility, and awe, are what push us beyond self-interest and “wire us for good.”  Cultivating awe, he says, is part of unlocking the truest sense of life’s purpose. 

The article discusses an experiment where he had two groups of subjects answer self-assessment questions, such as “I am…” to see how people see themselves.  He had the first group answer questions while facing a full-sized replica of a Tyrannosaurus Rex and the second group answered the questions while facing a hallway.  The result was interesting. 

The group that answered while facing the T. Rex were three times more likely to describe themselves as part of something bigger than themselves (“I am…part of the human species”) than those who answered facing the hallway (“I am…a soccer player”).  Dr. Keltner’s reasoning was that awe inspired the feeling of something bigger than “me.” 

We should look for moments to experience awe and generally, when we experience it, we want to share that with others. 

This got me thinking to my own feelings of awe.  I’ll say getting married in the temple was definitely an awe moment, as was the moments when my three children were born. I mean, what other word can describe that moment when this little bean who was seconds before inside you takes its first breath and is now a this little, breathing, real person with feelings, thoughts, emotions, and OPINIONS.  Awe is the best word to describe that.  That makes sense, as awe is associated with an increase in oxytocin, a bonding hormone. 

“Awe sends the signal…that clears the way for altruism, generosity, and acts of kindness.”

Aside from the birth of my children, I have one really strong memory of awe from quite awhile ago.  I was at the Omnimax at Caesar’s Palace (an IMAX theater).  Sitting in the theater before the show started, there were small lights on the screen around us in the darkened theater.  I remember sitting there very peacefully and imagining as if I were in the heavens looking at the universe, possibly at the formation of planets or Earth even. 

I had this weird, “My mind cannot comprehend this” moment trying to comprehend that there was never a beginning or an end to us, just a change of scenery, if you will.  It’s a little difficult for me to put this in words.  Before life here on Earth, we were…in Heaven and will return there when we pass from here.  But there was no start to our “existence” in Heaven, nor will there be an end.  Kind of mind-blowing.  AWE!