A Snackable Bite of Awe

My home office window sits between me and our front yard; beyond that is Gillis St. Lined with beautiful trees from tall pecans and lofty oaks whose branches canopy the street to a few cedars with their perpetually scraggly bark.

During the day I’m easily distracted by the parade of activity outside — the squirrels with their nutty antics, the birds flitting from branch to branch, and the people passing together or alone with or without a dog.

It all seems so ordinary and yet so profoundly beautiful. It’s our neighborhood teaming with life, redolent with sounds manmade and natural from buzz saws tackling broken branches to birdsong that spans the gamut from melodic to cackling.

In the moments when I’m fully present, I feel connected to it all and so grateful that this is my life. I’m not in Gaza or flood ravaged southern Brazil or any other place where life is beyond hard right now.

I am here and I feel the awe.

“Awe is the feeling of being in the presence of something vast that transcends your understanding of the world.

~Dacher Keltner, University of California, Berkeley.

Research has found that awe is critical to our well-being. It has health benefits that like reducing stress and anxiety, and it triggers the release of oxytocin, the “love” hormone that promotes trust and bonding.

The best part is that cultivating awe is easy. Use all your senses; open yourself up to everything thing around you, the birds flitting by, the sound of booming thunder, the smell of freshly mown grass, the feel of warm towels just out of the dryer. The smile on the face of someone you love.