Episode 661: Your Life Needs More Awe

0:00Rachel Carson wrote that those who dwell among the beauties and mysteries of the earth are never alone or wary of life. I love that. Because I think she's pointing at something that we've almost entirely stopped making room for. Welcome to your daily hit of Grace and grit. Your quick dose of inspiration to kickstart your day. I'm Courtney Townley and here is today's hit. That's your kelter who has spent his career studying awe. Defines it as the feeling of being in the presence of something vast. That transcends your current understanding of the world. That is such a beautiful definition. But what I want to add to this is that awe does not require a mountaintop or a cathedral. It can arrive in any ordinary day.

1:02And we can become more skilled at finding it because it's always around us. The opportunity for it is always around us. My husband and son were both away recently and I had several weeks to largely be by myself. And one afternoon I was looking through some old photos of my son and something stopped me looking at his face across the years and really watching because I saw a lot of videos in my phone too watching him kind of move through skateboarding and just the things that he loves so much. I was struck by how clearly I could see both my husband and I in him. My husband's quality of going his own way kind of swimming against the tide, not caring much of what the world thinks of beating to his own drum. I have so much mad respect for those qualities.

2:05And my son is so that way. And in my son, I also saw something of my own way of going all in when he gets his eyes on something right of critically thinking of working really hard. And we made that person. He is his own person, but we brought him into existence. That thought arrived with a weight that I was not prepared for. And what I felt in that moment really was awe. Not at anything grand or cosmic, but at a child growing up in my kitchen. Right? Ah, doesn't require spectacle. It requires presence and acknowledgement. And again, spaciousness. I've talked about spaciousness a lot this month because I think it is so applicable to all these conversations.

3:10All really requires three things that modern life makes increasingly rare. Presence, attention, and a willingness to be surprised. When we're moving too fast, we're managing too much and we're keeping our eyes on our screens. We we pass through experiences that could have stopped us in our tracks and we feel nothing. Not because there was nothing, but because we weren't available for it. Carson also wrote that a child's world is fresh and new and beautiful, full of wonder and excitement. And that it is armist fortune that most of us for most of us that cleared eye vision is dimmed and even lost before we reach adulthood.

4:15She was writing out nature, but I think the same is true of life more broadly. We stop being surprised because we stop paying attention. Keltner's research found something really unexpected. The most common source of awe across cultures and contexts was not nature or music or religious experiences. It was actually other people's courage, kindness, strength and overcoming. awe is available everywhere. In the women you know who are navigating really hard things with grace. In the ordinary miracle of a relationship that is lasted for decades

5:15or meeting someone that you have a really strong connection with. In a cafe at an airport in a piece of music that arrives exactly when you needed it. In the realization arriving quietly on an ordinary afternoon that your life has given you something remarkable. The question is not whether awe is available or that some people just get to experience more awe in their lifetime. awe is just a practice, a practice of noticing. It's always available. The question is whether you are moving slowly enough and paying close enough attention to acknowledge it, to let it in.

6:17So this week instead of looking for something to fix or optimize or improve. I want to challenge you to look for something to be astonished by. Again, it doesn't have to be grand. It just has to be real. And you have to be present enough to notice it. If this stirred something inside of you, imagine what a whole book of clarity and courage could ignite. The consistency code, a midlife woman's guide to deep health and happiness goes even deeper into the mindset and practices that create real, meaningful change at midlife. Grab your copy today over at theconsistencycode.com and keep the momentum alive.