finding awe amid the ordinary

One dictionary definition is "an overwhelming feeling of reverence, admiration, fear, etc., produced by that which is grand, sublime, extremely powerful, or the like: [e.g.] in awe of God; in awe of great political figures ."[3] Another dictionary definition is a "mixed emotion of reverence, respect, dread, and wonder inspired by authority, genius,... See more

- “The duration of felt experience is between two and three seconds …. Everything before belongs to memory; everything after is anticipation. It’s a strange, barely fathomable fact that our lives are lived through this small, moving window.”

Researchers speculated that the experience of awe might increase participants’ sense of time-availability, which might in turn lead people to act more generously with their time, and enhance overall well-being.

Awe is something you feel when confronted with forces beyond your control: nature, the cosmos, chaos, human error, hallucinations.

Dr. Keltner wrote that people who find awe all around them, “are more open to new ideas. To what is unknown. To what language can’t describe.”

One of the most reliable ways to experience awe, Dr. Keltner found, was in the simple act of witnessing the goodness of others

Awe, she believes, is “the absence of self-preoccupation.”

Our bodies respond differently when we are experiencing awe than when we are feeling joy, contentment or fear. We make a different sound, show a different facial expression. Dr. Keltner found that awe activates the vagal nerves, clusters of neurons in the spinal cord that regulate various bodily functions, and slows our heart rate, relieves digesti... See more