Phosphorescence: On awe, wonder and things that sustain you when the world goes dark
Julia Bairdamazon.com
Phosphorescence: On awe, wonder and things that sustain you when the world goes dark
A sense of community can also make us more resilient, not only improving our current state of mind but also protecting our mental health in the future.
Julia Baird • Phosphorescence: On awe, wonder and things that sustain you when the world goes dark
Attempting to provide an academic definition of awe, social psychologists Dacher Keltner and Jonathain Haidt wrote: ‘Two appraisals are central and are present in all clear cases of awe: perceived vastness, and a need for accommodation, defined as an inability to assimilate an experience into current mental structures.’
Julia Baird • Phosphorescence: On awe, wonder and things that sustain you when the world goes dark
Something happens when you dive into a world where clocks don’t tick and inboxes don’t ping. As your arms circle, swing and pull along the edge of a vast ocean, your mind wanders, and you open yourself to awe, to the experience of seeing something astonishing, unfathomable or greater than yourself. Studies have shown that awe can make us more patie
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I wonder if this is the same sense of awe we experience when seeing magic?
In order to endure, to survive trauma or even just to stay afloat when life threatens to suck us under, we need to know we are not alone.
Julia Baird • Phosphorescence: On awe, wonder and things that sustain you when the world goes dark
Today, scientists are trying to measure awe by goosebumps. (Only cold, adrenaline or strong emotion are more likely to cause goosebumps in a human being.) In an increasingly awe-deprived culture, when we are more likely to get lost in our screens than in the woods or public galleries, when we hedge our children’s explorations with our anxieties and
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Studies of living light proliferated, and attempts were made to measure and harness bioluminescence.
Julia Baird • Phosphorescence: On awe, wonder and things that sustain you when the world goes dark
While so much of our self-exploration today is hash-tagged #wellness and displayed, it became obvious to me in the far reach of sacred lands, encircled by campfires and eucalypts, that sometimes the best way to pay attention to country is to keep your mouth shut, open your eyes and just listen.
Julia Baird • Phosphorescence: On awe, wonder and things that sustain you when the world goes dark
What can be done to nurture our inner lights, and guard them as jealously as an Olympian does a burning torch?
Julia Baird • Phosphorescence: On awe, wonder and things that sustain you when the world goes dark
One witness reported being able to read on deck at night, due to the bright white light of the sea, ‘like that from molten iron’.
Julia Baird • Phosphorescence: On awe, wonder and things that sustain you when the world goes dark
people who regularly feel awe are more likely to be generous, helpful, altruistic, ethical and relaxed.