Did you find awe today?
Awe comes is so many ways. I often to ask myself and others “when was the last time you looked at someone with awe?”. This question stops people in their tracks. Understandably tho, we rarely have time to look at ourselves with awe, let alone our partner, family or the closest people to us. Next time your partner, your child or a stranger does something awe-inspiring, take note on how you feel.
So how do we help Children find Awe?
Rachel Carson once said in her award-winning classic, The Sense of Wonder, “If a child is to keep alive his inborn sense of wonder… he needs the companionship of at least one adult who can share it, rediscovering with him the joy, excitement and mystery of the world we live in.”
I remember fondly this little boy I cared for, who was 3 years old, had such a strong connection to the earth. Earth and Nature is where he felt held. He taught me how to see the wonder and awe found in the smallest things. We would look at the wind blowing and gushing past the trees or a colony of ants scattering around for hours on end. I started seeing colours in leaves, spots on trees and wondering why there were different grasses. These things were never visible to be, until a young boy taught me how to see. Awe was an emotion that snuck up behind me, tapped me on my shoulder and said find me and keep me in your heart.
Awe might be our most undervalued emotion. Here’s how to help children find it.
Written by Deborah Farmer Kris
“Perhaps surprisingly, the most common source of awe is other people’s goodness. “It’s kindness and courage” Keltner says. “We really have this capacity to be moved by other people.” Fred Rogers famously described how this source of awe can be emotionally protective for children: “When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me: ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.’ ”
In turn, several studies found that experiencing awe can make us kinder, more generous people. For example, participants who briefly stared at tall, beautiful trees — as opposed to staring at a building — were more likely to help a stranger who dropped their belongings. As Anderson says: “My hope is that awe can be an emotion that we leverage for the greater good of our communities, of our country and of people around the world.”
For many parents, pressing the pause button to make more room for awe will take some adjustment. I think about all the times I’ve yelled at my kids to hustle while they were, say, glued to the asphalt, staring at the wildflower growing through a crack. But when you ask parents to think of their favourite parenting experiences, they often speak about quiet moments of awe: wandering through the park, watching fireworks on a hill, snuggling together during a thunderstorm.
Recently, perhaps trying to channel my nature-loving father, I dragged my kids on an autumn hike. They grumbled, too, but after an hour of scrambling over rocks, kicking leaves and watching herons stalk prey, one of them turned to me and said: “Next time I don’t want to come, please remind me of this feeling.” And I can, because that feeling has a name”
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