Awe & Bewilderment

When was the last time you felt awe?

I’m talking about truly endearing, eye-watering, jaw-dropping, breath-catching, and yes I dare say that awe-inspiring kind of awe?

The kind that doesn’t need a mountaintop or sunset—though those are fine too—but only asks for an ennobling reverence of the otherwise mundane.

That quiet, yet powerful; silent, yet sublime kind of awe.

The kind that knocks you off whatever thought-train you were just lost in, and directs your focus, ever-so-unapologetically to this very moment and what is unfolding right before you now.

The kind of awe that reminds you that none of this is ordinary.

Actually, in the matter of probability, it is improbably extraordinary.

This moment, how this very breath profoundly sustains not only life but the depth to which we can experience its vibrancy, this unequivocal vitality of being fully alive.

Wow.

This notion of awe has come up recently across many conversations with friends, clients, and colleagues alike.

Clients have shared with me how taking an extra moment to look at their lives with the same sense of astonished curiosity that their toddlers or their puppies possess has been an unparalleled treasure to rediscover.

How the practice of purposefully instilling micro-moments of awe throughout the day—i.e., intentionally seeking opportunities for wonder—has shifted not just the tonality but the baseline quality of living from one moment to the next.

How an orientation to awe shifts our focus from rumination and regret to a recalibration of what we get to savor and say yes to.

Not to mention how healthy it is for our neurology to tingle new nerve connections and collaborations by looking at world through eyes, ears, and all our sense with wonder and awe.

It reminds me of an ancient Sufi prayer that another dear client once shared with me,

This so beautifully captures the spirit of surrendering to the unfolding wisdom of the moment, or season, we are in.

We may not have control of the sequence of circumstances as they make their ways into our lives, but we may maintain agency in how we choose to meet and receive them.

I, for one, would like to greet them as my dear friend’s son greets the simplest movement of my hands or the sounds I make when I beatbox for his beloved, bemused wonderment.

What would it look like, feel like, live like to hold this awe as a truth that tunes how you choose to meet the moments unfolding before you?

How would you gaze upon your partner, your children, your colleagues, your friends, your family—chosen or otherwise—strangers passing along in their own storied ways, small miracles percolating on a more-than-daily basis, and every other wonder that this life has been kind enough to offer you with this swelling, trembling, sensing blessing of bewilderment?

What might you say, what might you not?

What might you treasure, cherish, and love?

How might you be? What would you do?

How might you live, in such wondrous, astonishing awe?

Reflections for Growth

• What Do You Still Gasp At?

  Recall a moment in recent memory when something made you pause—something that gave you goosebumps or stilled your breath. What allowed you to be moved in that way?

• Where Has Awe Faded?

  What areas of your life have become more routine or mechanical than you’d like? Where might wonder be waiting to be noticed again?

• What Would It Take to Marvel Again?

  Consider a person, place, or practice in your life. What shifts when you choose to look at them as if for the very first time?

Invitations for Practice

• Wonderment Walk

  Take a 15-minute walk—no phone, no destination. Let your eyes soften. Pause anytime something catches your attention. Let it pull you in. Let it awe you.

• Awe in the Ordinary

  Choose one ordinary object, person, or moment today. Write or speak aloud five reasons it is extraordinary. Name its marvels, as uniquely defined by you.

• Personalize the Prayer

  Whisper the prayer slowly to yourself at some point in your day. Feel free to adapt it so that it is personally resonant for you, and let it guide the way you meet whatever comes next: “Lord, increase in me bewilderment.”

As you practice, please jot down your thoughts and experiences.

And as always, feel free to share your reflections directly with me.

Awe-inspiringly yours,

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