Each new year
Invites us to indulge
In a bunch
Of resolutions
To help us be better
Human beings, perhaps…
Resolutions which we
Promptly
Make jokes about
Breaking.
I prefer to call
My efforts
Determinations…
That way there’s no
Breaking…
Only daily actions…
Some more
Remarkable
Than others…
But always
Pointing the way.
This year brings us
A fresh new
Tabula rasa..
A clean slate
To indulge our
Best ideals…
This year I offer
Some thoughts
About
Awe.
Seems there are scientists,
Like Dacher Keltner,
David Bryce Yaden, and
Marianna Graziosi,
Who have been researching
The positive effects…
Both physical and emotional…
Of experiencing awe.
They say awe is defined
As an emotion
Akin to joy, amusement,
gratitude, love, pride.
Plus
Awe is the provenance
Of so much that is human…
Music, art, religion, science
And even
Transformative
Insights
About our lives.
Awe is the feeling
Of being
In the presence
Of something vast
That transcends
Our understanding
Of our world.
Awe is about
Our relation
To the vast mysteries
Of life itself.
Science says
We all experience awe
In differing ways
Several times every week.
EVERY WEEK!
And Science also says
We can
GET MORE AWE
And find ways
To live more
Awe filled lives.
It’s about wonder
And
Curiosity
And
Being open
To new ways
Of seeing.
Perhaps,
These scientists say
While awe is
An ordinary response
To the extraordinary,
Is also
An extraordinary response
To the ordinary.
I’m determined to be
More awesome
This year.
I’ll be
Starting by reading
Keltner’s book
The Awe Experience Scale
Developed by these
Awesome scientists.
Mostly I’ll
Just focus on
Feeling
MORE AWE
All around me.
Join me?
...
If this isn't nice, what is?
~ Kurt Vonnegut, of course
AWE
