Phosphorescence: On awe, wonder and things that sustain you when the world goes dark

Studies of living light proliferated, and attempts were made to measure and harness bioluminescence.

we should force ourselves out of gyms and off machines and into the natural world, knowing, or hoping, that we may stumble upon awe.

when dwarfed by an experience, we are more likely to look to one another and care for one another and feel more connected.

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.

a theory put forward by co-author Michael Tipton: ‘If you adapt to cold water, you also blunt your stress response to other daily stresses such as road rage, exams or getting fired at work.’

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’.

people who regularly feel awe are more likely to be generous, helpful, altruistic, ethical and relaxed.

The authors of the study, Masaki Kobayashi, Daisuke Kikuchi and Hitoshi Okamura, concluded that we all ‘directly and rhythmically’ emit light: ‘The human body literally glimmers. The intensity of the light emitted by the body is 1000 times lower than the sensitivity of our naked eyes.’

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.