Laura Francois, founder of the research collective Awe Exchange, who hosted a “Room of Awe” at our recent festival in Tangier, thinks that awe can mobilize and empower social action. She’s specifically interested in what might happen if eco-anxiety were replaced with eco-awe.
All creativity requires letting go. We let go by having some fun. We have some fun by staying curious. We stay curious by being 100% present for what's unfolding. The antidote to product-anxiety is process-delight. Become more focused on process & you just might sneak up on awe.
When people or groups become too enamored with mountaintops, we should ask ourselves whether their euphoria comes from love or from the experience of supremacy.
The purpose of art is not the release of a momentary ejection of adrenaline … but rather the gradual, lifelong construction of a state of wonder and serenity.