Finding Awe

Most of us can remember youthful years of mystery and adventure. No matter how short lived they might have been, they were full of wonder and are a part of who we became. Awe is that thing that opens your eyes and wants to see more, go further and discover the unknown. For me it was looking under old logs to find salamanders and pushing my known world deeper into the woods behind our house. Everyone is driven by their own sense of awe and only they can ever know what stirs it. It has been said that the greatest thing in life is awe, and unfortunately, those without it are missing out on what makes life worthwhile. We must all tune into that awe again and learn how to keep it in focus.

We all describe awe in a similar way, but the things that stir the awe in you may be very different from those in me. Also, those things will probably change over time. Finding awe is a skill and often begins with a journey of understanding ourselves. We need to know why we do the things we do, how to get what we REALLY want and why failure is such an important part of a healthy mind.

This journey of self-exploration is not a new idea and it is notoriously difficult, however, there are a few tricks to it. One is to relate to your heroes. We all both admire and despise others based on their characteristics. These qualities are speaking to us through the hero (or villain). Understanding the hero as a reflection, rather than separate from us, provides us feedback that cannot easily be seen from our normal perspective. This reflection, like in a mirror, will not lie. We will see our attributes as they really are avoiding ego and denial while bringing us closer to the self-awareness that will point the way to our personal awe.