What is Awe?
There’s a strip of land behind my house that’s covered in grass and trees, it’s not very big and its only purpose is to separate the row of houses where I live from a big school field.
When I first moved in around 10 years ago, I saw a fox on this piece of land. It was a magical moment and over time I would see glimpses of orange as he passed by the window. As time passed, he realised he was safe, and his stays became longer. Me and the neighbours left him to his own devices and after some time, the fox brought home a mate, they made a den and had a litter of kits. I can’t explain my absolute joy the first time I saw baby foxes playing behind my house. It was a wonderful experience, and like nothing I’d ever seen before. Year after year, the fox pair maintain their den outside my kitchen window and each year around May, new baby foxes make an appearance. My neighbours and I love them and share photos and stories of their antics. We watch the babies get bigger, becoming more confident, learning to hunt and then eventually they move on to find their own territories and mates, leaving only our original pair behind.
In the last few weeks, we’ve had a new arrival. A Roe Deer has been spotted wandering through our green space. This has brought us a new sense of wonder. Surprisingly, the foxes and the deer don’t seem to mind each other and coexist quite peacefully.
The reason I’m telling you this is to highlight the mental health benefits of awe. Awe is an intensely pleasurable emotion and one we get when see or experience something amazing or unique. Moments of awe can be life affirming, some examples include:
Seeing the Milky Way or the Northern Lights on a clear night
Marvelling at the birth of a baby
Being part of the crowd at an amazing concert.
Seeing a beautiful view like a mountain range or waterfall
Watching people push themselves to their limits to compete in the Olympics or Paralympics.
Witnessing an act of extreme kindness.
Reading an amazing and inspiring quote that stops you in your tracks and causes you to question things.
This isn’t an exhaustive list though, things that cause feelings of awe are completely unique to the individual. The more new experiences we have, the better our mental health will be. We thrive on novelty and newness, it’s good for our wellbeing to reduce the amount of time we spend functioning on ‘auto pilot.’ Taking opportunities to experience awe means bringing your attention into the here and now on purpose. When we focus our attention outwards instead of inwards, we can reduce patterns of negative thinking and symptoms of stress. We become more open to gratitude and optimism and are less likely to engage in negative self-talk, worry and patterns of rumination.
We can find awe in everyday life; by adopting an ‘awe mindset’ you can look at the world in a different way and discover things on your doorstep (or in my case, outside my kitchen window) that you may not have noticed before.
If you would like to know more about the power of awe on mental health, or you would like some support to manage your mood and wellbeing, please get in touch.