What’s better than awe? Maybe nothing.
Awe is what we feel when we are open to the miracle around us. We are always surrounded by the miraculous so we always have reason for awe. Yet, we are not always open to that wonder. We close it off. We filter it out.
So, it’s a blessing when we drop our habit of filtering out the miracle around us and let ourselves see the wonder of reality.
Psych professor Daniel Keltner has devoted his professional career as a psychologist to studying awe. Keltner collects all the academic research on awe in his book, Awe: The New Science of Everyday Wonder. He concludes that there are eight different sources of awe in people. They are
Moral Beauty: Awe inspired by the kindness, courage, or moral excellence of others.
Collective Effervescence: The shared energy and emotional uplift during group experiences like concerts, sports events, or spiritual gatherings.
Nature: The vastness and beauty of the natural world, from towering mountains to blooming flowers.
Music: The emotional and transcendent power of sound, melody, and rhythm.
Visual Design: Awe from the creativity and intricacy in art, architecture, or design.
Life and Death: Profound awe associated with milestones such as birth and the contemplation of mortality.
Religious or Spiritual Awe: Experiences connected to beliefs, rituals, or a sense of the divine.
Epiphanies: Moments of sudden realization or intellectual breakthroughs that reshape understanding.
When I look at this list, I notice that the first of the eight sources, Moral Beauty, as a source of awe, means seeing the wonder in other people. When we see the possibility in others, we are seeing the possibility of their kindness, their courage, their moral excellence, and maybe even the love that they are. We have it within us to see this possibility in every other person. When we do that, when we don’t filter it out, we experience that wonder.
Here’s what blows my mind. Keltner’s research reveals that although there are eight sources of awe, we experience awe more often from moral beauty than all the other sources put together. Seeing the possibility in others is not only the best way to bring out the best in others. It’s the best way for us to experience the wonder of life.
Keep an eye out for the moral beauty in others today. See what happens.
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