Yesterday I listened to a really interesting interview on National Public Radio. Here is the link if you would like to dive a bit deeper into it.

https://www.npr.org/2021/06/29/1011415113/awe-appears-to-be-awfully-beneficial

The person being interviewed (Michelle Shiota) is a psychologist at Arizona State University and an expert on emotions. A few months into the isolation of the pandemic she noticed that not only were her activities being limited, but that it felt like her mind was also shutting down – and life was becoming a whole lot less “fun.” Being an expert on such things, she created a plan for herself. The plan was centered upon creating the ability to more easily experience “awe” in her daily life.

She started by taking a walk around the block every morning with the express intent of finding the feeling of awe. It sounds like it was a fun adventure — carefully exploring her environment looking for things that pulled her in that direction. The things that she found were mostly little things, things that would normally go unnoticed such as a child’s chalk drawing on the sidewalk, or the color and beauty of a beetle’s back, or the sparkle of a water-drop hanging in the sunlight.

She found that when she found that experience she felt better. Her emotions lightened up and her interest in life improved. She quickly found herself beginning to notice these things without having to hunt them down, they were just there. Her explanation about this new found ease if in finding awful things (pun intended) is that practicing activities such as this cause the brain to actually re-configure itself, laying down new neural pathways that quickly become the “default” pathways. At first you have to think you way to the experiences, but once your brain is reconfigured they are just there. Sort of like riding a bicycle. At first it is hard because you have to “think” about the details – which overwhelms our brain. But after a bit of practice, and a few night’s sleep, it all just happens. Apparently the same thing applies to finding things that are awe inspiring, and that in turn fires up parts of the brain that include happiness, contentment, and a feeling of being connected to the universe.

I find this to be an extremely hopeful message. Maybe it isn’t so darned hard to become a little bit “enlightened.” Perhaps there are simple exercises that we can all do that help us to not dwell in feeling isolated and on our own. Maybe simple things such as this open our hearts and minds to better things. One thing is for sure, it is easy, inexpensive, and can be done anywhere at any time. It also doesn’t seem like there is much danger to trying. If it works, wonderful. If it doesn’t, at least it was a fun little adventure in searching for beauty in our everyday lives.