SEEKING OUT AWE
in a perfectly ordinary day
Do you remember a time when you felt completely and utterly awestruck? Where does that memory take you? To a beautiful destination you visited on your travels? A blissful encounter with natural beauty, or a rare cosmic event? The memory of holding a newborn in one's arms? Perhaps even a serendipitous meeting with an extraordinary person?
Earlier today, I spent some time looking deeper into this feeling we call AWE. I remembered my most precious memories of places and people, art and poetry, architecture and nature which left me totally awestruck. What I loved reminiscing over was how being awestruck makes one feel. A momentary tenderness from being struck by the vastness and the wondrousness of our world, the rush of colour to one's face, a gasp for breath and most definitely a sense of wonder and pure joy at seeing and experiencing a thing of such beauty!
The most wonderful aspect of experiencing awe is sharing it with others who have encountered the same. Sharing this feeling helps build memories with loved ones and momentarily brings strangers together on the same frequency. It can act as a medium to build new relationships that could last a lifetime. Above all -
"Experiencing awe binds us together in our shared humanity."
- Bonnie Smith Whitehouse
However, on a perfectly ordinary day, when one is negotiating between house chores and work responsibilities, coping with traffic and deadlines and the perils of living in big cities, the feeling of awe may give us a slip. Exactly why we look forward to special occasions - holidays, travel, events that give awe a chance to seek us, make its rare appearance and leave behind a special memory.
What if we seek out awe instead, rather than waiting for the extraordinary to happen to us? Where can we, especially those living in big, crowded, noisy cities (like Mumbai), find it around us?
Awe, most definitely, is embedded in nature’s beauty. If, on an ordinary day, we really start taking notice of the world around us, we will find that nature coexists with us in tiny ways, despite our efforts to concretise our cities and surroundings. The beauty of a periwinkle growing on a balcony, the chirping of birds at dawn, the fading daylight at dusk, the serenity of a crescent moon, the heady scent of the champa on a summer evening, the wavy patterns on the furry neighbourhood cat, the carpet of golden yellow flowers shed by the laburnum down the street...
There are so many ways to seek awe through our actions and activities by engaging with the awe inspiring beauty that lies hidden in plain sight. Admiring an olden stone building, a carved, wooden door, a crumbling ruin, waking up to experience the day as it breaks through the stillness of night, looking up at the gossamer canopy of a lone tree, finding a patch of blue sky on a clear day, marvelling at the flavours and textures of the food we eat, and quenching one's thirst with a glass of cool, clean water…
How blessed we are to be surrounded by the wonders of life, and the innumerable things that have the power to evoke a feeling of awe inside our hearts, much like a silent message from the creative energy that embedded such beauty in every creation! The moment we realise that we are constantly surrounded by immense beauty often disguised as ordinary things, people and places, is a moment of a great paradigm shift, for henceforth we don’t need to look forward to a special day, place or person to experience awe, but live every moment awestruck by life itself!
"And above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don't believe in magic will never find it."
- Roald Dahl
If you are still reading this you are truly amazing. Subscribe, share, comment and like to support this reader-supported publication.
May you seek out awe in ordinary things around you today!
View draft history
Nice one Minaz! Not sure how I could have missed this
Absolutely beautiful! The writing and pictures were just beautiful. I was reminded of my own memories and times I was left awestruck. Even now, I am left awestruck just reading this article :)