I’ve written before about my love of the forest, but recently I’ve been appreciating it even more. It’s quiet, somehow both still and yet bustling with life at the same time, beautiful scenery stretching out before me and the possibility of a new adventure down every path… it hits a sweet spot for my autistic/ADHD brain and just generally does me the world of good.
Over the last few months I’ve been contemplating awe, when we feel something bigger than ourselves and savour the experience. According to Dr Julie Smith in her bestselling book Why Has Nobody Told Me This Before?, “Awe is the feeling of being faced with something vast and beyond our current understanding of things,” and “We can experience awe in the presence of beauty, the natural world and exceptional ability.” I experience this firsthand in the forest, standing amoung the gum trees, red dirt roads and beautiful blue skies, the contrast of colours and the sights, sounds and smells of the forest tickling my sensory nose.
I guess the forest is nature’s cathedral—I’ve seen it quoted as “the cathedral of the outdoors”. But you don’t have to go into the woods to experience awe: lakes, mountains, the ocean… the natural environment has a wonderful ability to wake up our senses and awe us if only we look and let it.
"Oh, what are men compared to rocks and mountains!" - Pride & Prejudice (2005)
In Why Has Nobody Told Me This Before? Dr Julie suggests that experiencing awe can help us to manage to stress, because “there is some relationship here between awe and gratitude.” This confirms what I wrote in this post, that “in taking the time to savour I notice more, therefore I am more appreciative”. According to Dr Julie, awe helps us to detach from the details of everyday life and see the bigger picture.
In her book she describes “… hearing people talk about their experiences of awe… people talking about feeling small, and in doing so, being able to recognize more easily what matters most,” and remarks that “It appears to bring about gratitude and a wonder for having the chance to be alive.” I don’t know about you, but I always feel more appreciative and more grateful to be alive when I experience feelings of awe.
The forest makes me feel small
All around me I seem to see an inflated sense of self, an exaggerated perception of human value and importance. Of course we are all individuals and should be treated as such, but I don’t agree with the modern persuasion that we should bend over backwards to accommodate everyone’s every desire, wish, or preferred pronouns. Sorry if that offends you - bu…
From helping us manage stress to increasing feelings of gratitude, awe is good for us. Yet most of us don’t go throughout our days feeling awed at everything we see. This is partly because of habituation, which means the more we get used to something, the less attention we tend to pay it. Thankfully, it’s not difficult to cultivate feelings of awe, as YouTuber Jade Bowler (aka Unjaded Jade) explains below:
As Arianna Huffington points out in her book Thrive, “Maintaining a childlike sense of awe and curiosity is part of the fun and intense mystery of being alive.” My advice would be not to wait until you’re stressed to seek out awe, but to make time for awe-inspiring scenes and experiences on a regular basis; because, as Dr Julie wrote in Why Has Nobody Told Me This Before?, “There is nothing like feeling small in a vast universe to bring your stress down and feel comforted by the new perspective.”
Quite simply, feeling awed can pull you out of your everyday existence and give you a fresh sense of meaning, inspiration and perspective. Dr Julie suggests we “Seek out experiences of awe to shift your perspective” and recommends that “when dealing with stress, why not explore what triggers a sense of awe for you, whether it is time with animals or nature, watching extraordinary performances or looking up at the stars?” Because as Arianna writes in Thrive, “Nature and art are two of the most fertile grounds for experiencing wonder.”
These are relatively simple things, but their impact can’t be underestimated. You can feel awed in your everyday life simply by paying attention, being mindful and savouring the experience. Sometimes I experience awe on my regular walks when I take the time to stop and look around, allowing myself to feel awed by the stunning scenery or the nature around me. Walt Whitman is quoted as saying “After all, the great lesson is that no special natural sights… is more grand or more beautiful than the ordinary sunrise and sunset, earth and sky, the common trees and grass.” It just takes truly seeing them to be awed.
Whilst this isn’t a digital minimalism series post, I wanted to touch on the fact that spending less time on screens is a good way to cultivate awe. You probably find you pay more attention to the people around you and your surroundings when you’re not distracted by a screen. As I wrote in my post Savour, it’s hard to notice—let alone savour—your environment when you’re scrolling… All the swipe, swipe, scroll, scroll leaves us unable to focus on any one thing for long, let alone appreciate its beauty.
It’s yet another reason to ditch screens and start really living.
As
put it:
I think that just about sums it up.
NATURE REFLECTION
As I walked through the forest yesterday, I noticed the colours of the leaves on the trees, the birdsong above me, and the colours of dirt mixing in clay mud, like a spectacular watercolour or some kind of abstract art. As I looked through the forest, past the smaller saplings to the bigger trees beyond, I felt I glimpsed an insight into an ecosystem that manages perfectly fine without us—one that is, without human intervention, perfectly balanced.
If only we could be so wise as to let well enough alone.
Check out the neurodivergence archive here or the Digital Minimalism Diaries here.