We All Need More Wonder & Awe

Looking around it’s common to see the signs of  an increasingly weary and anxious world.  There appears to be little room left for the joys of wonder.

Asked to identify the “malaise of the moment,” a prominent New York psychiatrist declared, “Generalized anxiety. That is by far the most common complaint voiced by my clients.” 
The antidote? Well, that’s a deeper conversation then we have time for in this pages, but certainly – doses of wonder – can ease our disquiet.

Jungian analyst,  James Hollis reminds us that what we sometimes experience as the mundane, frustrating, even painful contents of our experience often are a calling to merge with the deeper parts of our existence. These are the depths of experience, busy lives usually don’t have time for – or, even consider.  Yet, in so many ways psyche as Hollis writes, is always calling us in. 

So it is with the deep nourishment of connecting with the awe and wonder of existence. Hollis describes our primal needs brilliantly, “We are all exiles, whether we know it or not, for who among us feels truly, vitally linked to the four great orders of mystery: the cosmos, nature, the tribe and self? “

In nooks and crannies and in big noisy headlines, tension and uncertainty are becoming commonplace memes in these times.  There are no easy or fast solutions.  There is no Rx. This is life as we have constructed as a society so far; conscious choices or not.

We’re in need of many solutions and technology can’t solve all of our problems.  In fact, it’s created many new ones – estrangement from genuine social contact, endless distractions, even addictions from device overload and perhaps worst of all – a growing detachment from the wonders of human existence.
Dare we still dream? Is it illusory and irresponsible to yearn for the luxuries of wonder – that feeling caused by seeing something that is surprising, beautiful and amazing? 

First, to find wonder again, we must strip off the veneers of self-protection we have layered on as we face what we have collectively identified as the realities of modern life. Author Rob Brezsny writes, “Many of us have given in to the temptation to believe that everything is upside-down and inside-out. Pessimism is enshrined as a hallmark of worldliness. Compulsive skepticism masquerades as perceptiveness. Mean-spirited irony is chic. Stories about treachery and degradation provoke a visceral thrill in millions of people who think of themselves as reasonable and smart. Beautiful truths are suspect and ugly truths are readily believed.”

These are Hard Times in the World

Generations Z and Millennials face unprecedented global and local challenges – economic, social and certainly environmental.  The world’s a mess, so many say.  Too many of us are disappointed and feel duped by the ignorance of earlier generations that have left us in this state of stagnation, imbalance and general disrepair.

In his book, The More Beautiful World Our Hearts Know is Possible, author Charles Eisenstein writes, “We once thought economists would fix poverty, political scientists would fix social injustice, chemists and biologists would fix environmental problems and the power of reason would prevail and we would adopt sane policies.”

It is, after all, easy to see how we have lost our sense of wonder. Wonder seems like such an extravagance in a demanding and harsh world – one driven by relentless productivity.
But we need wonder – now more than ever.

In her poem, Mindful, the brilliant words of Mary Oliver invite us to the daily possibilities to rekindle wonder within ourselves:
Everyday
I see or hear
something
that more or less
kills me
with delight,
that leaves me
like a needle
in the haystack
of light.
It was what I was born for —
to look, to listen,
to lose myself
inside this soft world —
to instruct myself
over and over
in joy,
and acclamation.
Nor am I talking
about the exceptional,
the fearful, the dreadful,
the very extravagant —
but of the ordinary,
the common, the very drab,
the daily presentations.
Oh, good scholar,
I say to myself,
how can you help
but grow wise
with such teachings
as these —
the untrimmable light
of the world,
the ocean’s shine,
the prayers that are made
out of grass?

Feelings of wonder and awe cannot be manufactured or captured. We can’t Instagram the truly awesome momentary feeling of glimpsing a sunset or catching the light of love coming from another. If we are not there or should I say here – we will miss them.

To experience wonder and awe, we must make ourselves more available to them. We must set the table for the light to come in.  We must  – as the popular aphorism goes – stop the glorification of busy –  get better control of what distracts our attention in insignificant diversions, get quieter and penetrate the defenses we construct with a web of beliefs that deny us the delights of human wonder.

We’re Hurt and Need to be Healed

I might be losing some readers now. If you are thinking, “All this wonder and awe stuff sounds like self-indulgent psycho-babble,” I want to take you back to the last time you felt wonder-full.  Not sated or even thrilled – but filled with wonder. There is a distinct feeling when you are enthralled by the fleeting experience of wonder and awe.

If wonder catches us by surprise and leaves us in amazement, awe instills a deep sense of reverence and admiration – both creating a sense of oneness with something bigger than us.  Wonder’s gift is that it renews our deepest nature of belonging. Wonder reminds us that even in our aloneness we are surrounded by greatness.

Charles Eisenstein writes, “The derision of the cynic comes from a wound of crushed idealism and betrayed hopes. The cynic mistakes his cynicism for realism. He wants us to discard the hopeful things that touch his wound, to settle for what is consistent with his lowered expectations.”

Resiliency, today’s great buzzword, isn’t simply about adopting a set of “strategies” to unravel stress. While behavioral changes need to be made to develop more flexible responses to outside stimuli, resilience is built from the inside out.  The weary cynic in us needs hope. The overwhelmed worrier in us needs soothing. And the frustrated, angry and disappointed parts of ourselves need rest.  Allowing in more wonder and awe can do that.

Wonder and awe are gateway emotions.  They can enable a sense of gratitude, appreciation, joy, peace and contentment. Wonder and awe heal because they nourish.

Once again, in her poem, The Ponds, Mary Oliver shows us the way…
Still, what I want in my life
Is to be willing
To be dazzled
To cast aside the weight of facts
And maybe even
To float a little
Above this difficult world.
I want to believe I am looking
 Into the white fire of a great mystery.
I want to believe that the imperfections are nothing
That the light is everything-that is more than the sum
Of each flawed blossom rising and fading. And I do.

Whether a poem, music, a star-filled sky, the smile of a child or your own beautiful body, allow wonder in – and let it do its work.

Louise Altman, Intentional Communication Consultants
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