It's Time to Find Your Awe

8 types of wonder to discover

My Image with Bing Image Creator

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This story is partially based on this book: Dacher Keltner. Awe: the New Science of Wonder and How it can Transform your Life. New York: Penguin House, 2023.

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After years of self-torture, I decisively concluded that I am one of the free thinkers, the feelers, the wanderers and the wonderers, and the emotionally-driven sensitives. I care little for formulas, numbers, or directions. There are many of my peers out there, but they are hard to see.

There is freedom in knowing who you are and even more in disavowing who you are not.

I have heard lots of analysis lately encouraging us to see ourselves as constantly evolving, so that a person can never be associated with one identity. I disagree with that. We do have a definable essence that does not change, even though constant change is undeniably part of this existence.

My strangeness has caused me to think about things that actually matter to me, and all that can be quite dissimilar from the proclivities of others. One has to eventually accept this as okay. Again, it feels like freedom.

With that in mind, the word awe, and others like it, have stirred my fascination. I must admit that abstract and mysterious ideas are usually the most interesting due to being abstract and mysterious. I want to focus on the wonders of the world, but I am not talking about the Great Pyramid of Egypt (though that is an awesome subject).

More accurately, my interest pertains to the wonders of the mind; the greatest and most perplexing thing in the world. The brain interprets what we experience as awe-inspiring, and each of us is different. Therefore, what is truly wonderous must be taken into our bodies and felt, and so those things that produce the feelings are less wonderous than our reactions to those things.

Is wonder and awe the same thing? I want to say no but cannot offer why. So, I am going to use them as if they are almost identical.

Not too long ago, I settled on a term that I invented. “Transcendent rapture” is my best attempt at describing overwhelming emotion, that is almost always a surprise, that causes butterflies in the gut (stomach is too scientific and specific), a few tears or lots of them, and brings intensity that is hard to explain.

I also wrote an article about it that very few read. I feel the rapture at its highest level when words, images, music, or a combination of those, remind of both the exuberant and the tragic. For me, authentic artistic expression can never be reduced to any term that is a synonym of good. There must be dualism.

Whatever I create has a short lifespan and never makes it beyond this publication. However, I want to talk with you about something that may define how we think about awe. Psychology professor Dacher Keltner formulated eight types of awe in his book: Awe: The New Science of Everyday Wonder and How it Can Transform Your Life. Each is a method of finding wonder in life and are listed below.

Types of Awe Experiences
1. Moral Beauty
2. Collective Effervescence 
3. Nature
4. Visual Design
5. Music
6. Spirituality 
7. Big Ideas
8. The beginning or end of life

I want to talk about a few of these, including those that Keltner and others deem the most important. Also, I want readers to know that I have not yet learned enough to understand each category. Regardless, this is a highly intriguing subject, and Keltner wrote that “awe is in many ways our most human emotion.”

From what I gather, the most relatable and significant awe type is “Moral Beauty” that lives in the examples of the extraordinary kindness and courage of the human spirit. Think about people who are sincere in helping and sacrificing for others with no expectation of rewards. Virtue is another good word we could use.

My mind first recalls History, heroism, saving lives, and maintaining one’s dignity while living under tragic circumstances. A soldier who dies while protecting others, or while saving his or her fellow soldiers, might spark a certain kind of awe. For the most part, these arrive to us in the form of stories after the fact.

Though, we can witness humanity’s greatness by simply living and observing. Awe does not have to occur as part of some grand narrative or newsworthy event. I suppose we can all think of everyday heroes, love that conquers terrible odds, people who try to save animals, the spirit of giving after a natural disaster, or perhaps many others we can locate somewhere.

Nature provides awe moments, in my interpretation of Keltner’s thesis, that are almost as common as Moral Beauty. We probably can think back to some exceptional place we have been or some day or night when the natural world captured our imagination. Nature is an expert awe-maker and really the only reference we have to compare with all other human endeavors.

Do we have to travel far, and visit some breathtaking view, to find the wonders of nature? That helps, but my answer is no.

Nature’s awe is everywhere. Pick most any walking path at sunset, and one will eventually be mesmerized by some tree, some rock arrangement, the sun sinking down on the tree line, a little creek, and etc. Nature itself is a miracle, which is true and important even though people frequently just say those words without thinking at all.

Try looking at your environment for clues to begin a love affair with the world not made by mankind.

Collective effervescence is also a favorite of ours—meaning all of humanity. The word effervescence is a constant spell-check issue, for me, but also one of the best words in the language. In my peculiar brain, the word is the closest to how transcendent rapture makes me feel.

A kind of group awe happens when people in great (depends on the situation) numbers gather and are moved by some purpose or revelation. Religion of every type is full of collective effervescence.

Since forever, folks assemble according to some spiritual design and cry, faint, shout, shake, and claim all kinds of exchanges with the gods. The combination of music and religious fervor is exactly the right recipe to impact people in the most profound ways. Lives can be changed, and people feel saved regardless of how someone else judges the experience.

Dear reader, I do not have to convince you of the power of music. Also, we do not have to conjure up people sweating, gyrating, dancing, and gesticulating to review the variations of awe.

We can close our eyes and gently allow the power of an orchestral masterpiece, a soulful lament, or the articulation of our heartaches told through song and sound, carry us away and “leave” our immediate surroundings. This last part is important. I believe awe must exceed the boundaries of any day and time and bring us to some cosmic recognition of our greatness or smallness in the grand scheme of all things.

You see, transcendent rapture begins to make more sense, right? Anyway, this is the last time I will mention it here. I promise.

Keltner defined awe as “the feeling of being in the presence of something vast that transcends your current understanding of the world.” Very good. It makes sense.

Keltner is a fan of awe and believes it contributes to positive physical and mental health. Basically, the author argues that we will be healthier (cholesterol, diabetes, mental health, more) if feeling wonder is a major part of our lives. We need to seek out awe, I guess.

Well, would you agree that there is less awe now than ever before in the past? We have figured out everything. Well not really, but it seems that way. Movie magic is gone, because every person alive is aware of the green screen. Even natural marvels are now explainable.

We became jaded a long time ago, probably before I was born. So, let’s not think about that.

I want to leave you with some ideas to find awe in your life. Except, the ideas are plentiful and very Google-able. There is no formula for awe, and this is a great thing.

We know where to find it, but each permutation of awe depends on the brain that processes it. Therefore, me writing down any advice toward your awe seems pointless.

At this time of year, I sometimes will listen/watch the flashmob performance of Beethoven’s Ode to Joy. It is remarkable for a thousand reasons. It brings the awe to this person.

One thing is perfectly clear, because Keltner and I propose that your life needs the wonderous, too-much to think about, that you should not think about and simply feel, in order to reach your best self.

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WHEN WAS YOUR LAST AWE EXPERIENCE? WHAT WAS YOUR MOST INTENSE ONE?

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Please also check out Nick Richards’ story on a similar theme:

Principle 20: Find Childlike Wonder in the World