Find your Awe: WHealth Magnet

• June 24, 2015

When last did you stand in awe? Were you gazing at a pounding ocean? Lying on your back contemplating the night sky and the vastness of the heavens? Watching the poetry of ice-dancing? Enjoying the athleticism and spectacle of the Super-Bowl? Listening to your favorite music? Reading about the life and work of a great hero, a social evangelist and change-agent?

More important, do you remember how you felt? Do you remember the flood of warmth, the deep respect, the feelings of littleness, or perhaps the inspiration?

Awe inspires powerful emotional engagement. Research shows that the sense of humility and comfort we feel when we recognize that we are part of a greater entity such as nature and humanity increases both empathy and gratitude. These are powerful pro-social emotions that stimulate social engagement.

So, find your awe. Bathe yourself in it, often. Enjoy it. Share it. Savor it. That’s the road to WHealth!

Have fun,

Roddy