We don’t need extraordinary things to happen to be grateful. Being alive is marvelous and miraculous in itself. My gratitude practice invites me to look at the micro-moments in my life.
Alex Elle
Welcome to Day Two of Awakening to Awe
Awe is available in the daily and the ordinary. Through attention, an expansive lens, historic perspective, and reflection, you can experience awe in everyday life.
Noticing and savoring the miraculous in the seemingly ordinary is a foundational principle of grateful living. When you cultivate a consistent practice of gratefulness, your entire orientation to life shifts from taking things for granted to being in awe of the wonders of daily life. Building on yesterday’s practice of awakening to awe in nature, begin today by watching A Grateful Day, Br. David Steindl-Rast’s beautiful reminder that gratefulness is rooted in awe — of the natural world, yes, but also of modern conveniences, each other’s faces, the very stories we carry. Whether the video is familiar or new to you, allow it to serve as a brief meditation and introduction to today’s practice.
Today’s Practice
First, enjoy reading Miracle Day, a short essay by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Anthony Doerr. Doerr asks the profound question, “When did utter miracles start becoming banalities?,” then offers this playful invitation: “Imagine that one of your ancestors, a version of yourself that lived, say, twenty-seven thousand years ago — a caveman, if you must — is hanging out with you for the day.” Seen through the eyes of your time-traveling companion, what miracles of “ordinary” life might bring you to your knees in utter awe?
- Take Inventory. Set a timer for two minutes, and take inventory of the seemingly ordinary things that are an essential part of your ability to live, even thrive, on this particular day. It might look something like this: coffee, computer, groceries, medicine, air conditioning, the mail, glasses, books, stairs, window panes. In only a couple of minutes, you will likely have an abundant list!
- Envision the Story to Now. Choose one thing from your list and imagine the people, inventions, time, or transportation that made this “ordinary thing” a possibility on this very day. For example: Close your eyes and bring to mind the myriad systems and individuals, current and past, that made it possible for the card your friend dropped in a mailbox a thousand miles away to arrive directly to you — one person among millions — only a few days later. Or: Imagine the hours of research by people you’ll never know, in labs around the world, that resulted in the medicine you took with your morning coffee made from beans that someone grew in a country far from your own.
- Attune. Commit to tuning in to the wonders of the ordinary for a set amount of time: an hour, the morning, a whole day. At the end of that time, reflect on the following: How would my life be altered without the gift of these “ordinary” things? Where were there opportunities for awe in my supposedly ordinary day? When I pause to appreciate the actual miracle of these daily gifts, how does it shape my day or enhance my sense of aliveness?
Share Your Reflection: Help build a collection of ordinary things that awaken awe by sharing your insights in the Community Conversation area below.
Deepening Resource
All That Is Glorious Around Us by Barbara Crooker
In this beautiful poem, the poet shares that what is glorious to her are the small wonders all around — the driving rain, steam from her soup, the miracle of breathing.
From wherever you are at this moment, take a moment to pause, breathe, and give thanks for all that is glorious around you.
Research Highlight
In this Templeton Ideas podcast, Dacher Keltner shares research by his colleagues that shows that finding awe in daily life doesn’t depend on having a lot. It might be surprising, in fact, to learn that “privilege, wealth, and resources negatively correlate with awe.” Listen to minutes 6:15 – 9:19 to hear more about people’s capacity to find awe in the ordinary, particularly amidst hardship. And if you have time, enjoy the full 29-minute episode, transcript included.
Photo by mrjn Photography
In the second day. I had an experience of watching the advanced in the civilization, in our community that I can use an make me the life more comfortable. For example I use the car to move me all day, to go from on place to an other, It’s amazing. I was thinking how many time I need if I haven’t the car, inclusive, the comfortable manner that I can move. Many things I can enjoy, the hot shower in the morning, the chair, the table, all cooking things, the industrial food on my table, the water to drink that arrived to my home by tubes, my warm bed in the night, the artificial light, many many things I have. Thanks thanks, many thanks
The breeze, and wind make the leaves dance beautifully…. so I decided to dance along and sing…I am flexible and flowing.
It suits my heart, my body and spirit very well.
I admire my skeleton very much, and thank it all the time for allowing me to move , and go anywhere.
Also, thank it for supporting my muscles and my organs.
Skeleton,I appreciate you a lot. I am thinking to write an Ode to honor it.
In listening to the “Templeton Ideas Podcast” in the Research Highlight,” I was fascinated with Dacher Keltner’s quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson on “Awe.” Emerson says that in the midst of awe…”All mean egotism vanishes.” Keltner goes on to explain that in the “default mode,” awe is a deep human instinct that quiets us down, opens us up to others resulting in the compassion that connects to our mortality. Upon my reflection of these concepts, I understand that egotism cannot dwell where awe resides.
I was at work all day and wasn’t able to get to this until the evening. I’m in health care and spent a lengthy part of my shift monitoring patients with my Life Pack 15 (LP15) a cardiac monitor. What an incredible piece of equipment, it’s capable of identifying, converting and/or defibrillating dangerous or potentially lethal heart rhythms, as well as identifying new or old cardiac muscle damage (among other uses). Luckily today I was using this masterpiece of technology to babysit patients while they were between visits from specialists who didn’t require the use of the energy the LP15 is able to discharge. The brilliant people who researched, collaborated, and assisted in the conception and invention of the machine have saved countless lives. The machine is so complex that even professionals that use it couldn’t do justice with a formal explanation of how it worked.
I’d guess that my imagined ancestors could not possible view this as anything but a tool gifted from God.
Thank you to everyone who wrote in the comments, they are wonderful to read.
I was thankful for an opportunity to think about the extraordinary in the ordinary again today. It seems to be my daily go-to topic of reflection as I walk for 2 hours, 8 miles. Today, I expressed gratitude and awe for the ability to walk, run across the street, and even play hopscotch on someone’s sidewalk chalk art. You see, I was paralyzed from the chest down for a period of time 14 years ago this month when a neurological tumor called a meningioma finally grew enough to press firmly against the thoracic section of my spinal cord. Thankfully, surgery and physical therapy helped me regain my ability to walk again. Each day, when I’m on my daily “wonderhunt” walk, I reflect on the tremendous gift of being able to walk at all. When people ask me why I walk so much each day, I always reply, “Because I can.” The ordinary act of walking is an extraordinary gift that resonates with me all these 14 years later. There is indeed awe to be found in the ordinary.
As terribly scary and challenging as your tumor experience must have been, what an amazing thing that it gave you a profound gratitude for being able to perform the simple, every day act of walking. Thank you for sharing your experience – very moving.
Thank you so much for your kind words!
I just happened to notice, really notice, the pink toe pads on my cat’s paws. The five pads form a somewhat circular pattern, and they are soft, yet durable and purposeful. Isn’t life often a balance requiring both softness and durability, as these present times suggest? In awe of cats!
Yes, my list of the “ordinary” in my life is lengthy. Music topped my list with amazement of the many talents involved in bringing it to my ears, heart and soul. As for imagining my life without the wonderful embrace of music, I wouldn’t want to be present to myself; restlessness, unfocused, in a void. What does music awaken within me? Deep serenity, pending on the music fore I listen to a variety, but mostly jazz of the softer variety. My appreciation for the talents in a single tune generates deep gratefulness in me for the creativity, joy and love for music that enriches my soul.
Music is absolutely awe inspiring!
The Dacher Keltner podcast was very meaningful. The 8 “wonders of life” caught my attention! Whoa! Thank you.
Witnessing the almost daily changes and new things my grandchildren have learned. Often they bring me back to the days where I was a young mother to my own children. Memories of things we did and said. So precious! Having a car to drive in to see them, having gas to fuel the car.
Without my home, my heat pump, the fridge with food, and a comfortable place to rest, and so many more things, I would be lost, trying to find security and comfort, living with MS without the things that make it possible. So many things that support me that are easy to take for granted.
At every turn, there are moments for awe. It is easy to attune to, if I am looking. Things get quiet and slow down. I feel open, I feel free, even though there is pain and weakness.
Tuning in regularly feels like it could transform my days. Receive the joy that is always there, even with the sorrow and difficulty. Then I will forget. And then I will return. Thank you.
2 It’s raining outside; misty rain on a day where we are much in need of moisture for the trees, long waiting for a soaking rain, and help for the fires burning to the north and to the west of Calgary – how much I love that it’s falling in such a way that the trees will benefit the most….slow, persistent moisture. How I am looking at my still new oak tree, now brilliant with green leaves turning red, and rich with seed pods. The knowing this morning’s rain will help its roots establish and grow tolerant of a more hostile growing season found at the foot of the Canadian Rockies.
Of late, or perhaps my whole life, I’ve had an antenna up trying to hear “The Call”, that which I give myself to with my whole heart and would fill my life with joy and love. What’s next in Love’s manifestation of my life? I seek for this- daily- and in seeking for it, I often miss what is in front of me. So, during today’s reflection, I find myself asking: “Is what I’m being given in this moment, is it enough?” I recently went out late at night hoping to see dozens of meteors shoot across the sky. I saw about 5 in an hour. Was it enough? Can I see the miracle of one meteor? On another night, I went to the shore’s edge hoping to see the bioluminescence light up the waters. It was dark, abyss-like, no glow. Can I see the miracle of this darkness, the beauty of the no-glow? Is it enough? Today’s reflection invites me to the stance of yes, it is enough, and it is all a gift. The Call in this moment is to sit here in my chair, breathing, noticing the sights and sounds around me, giving thanks… and it is enough.
I love this! I frequently ask the question about my purpose, where I’m being called next, but your wise words remind me that there is sacred, there is “enough” in my purpose in this very moment. Thank you!
Our assignment today is first to list ordinary everyday things we are extremely grateful for. Strong enough decaf black tea, a microwave safe mug for people with tremors, a spice grinder and spices (to make chai spice, and more), a great family, my wheel chair and cushion, grab bars, medical care, transportation, my life-alert safety system, groceries, clothes, footwear, glasses with prism lenses, computer, a home, and more. Guru’s grace, guidance, teachings, D R Butler Course, support of friends,, uplifting Fb posts and websites.
How would my life be altered without the gift of these “ordinary” things? Safety, convenience and ease, independence, happiness, gratitude and content would be compromised, in some ways severely. Where were there opportunities for awe in my supposedly ordinary day? In all aspects, situations, conditions, and moments. When I pause to appreciate the actual miracle of these daily gifts, how does it shape my day or enhance my sense of aliveness? Appreciation, awareness, and gratitude for my life is greatly deepened. Complaining, envy, self-pity, victimhood, selfishness vanish or are significantly reduced, my Heart opens to the gifts of grace and humbles me. 🙂🙏✨
The delight of warm cotton sheets when I awaken this morning and the capacity to put my feet on the floor, stand up and see the landscape so verdant and alive. With pain in my hip, a smile on my face I say “YES”, another gift, another day, another opportunity to open my heart to beauty, kindness and service. Yay!!!!
The hospital staff who took care of my husband in the hospital last week. His room mate in the hospital who reminded me that my husband loves me. The doctor daughter who cried with her father, my husband during his darkest hours last week. The friends and family who voiced concern. The angels, friends and family who are no longer here but are here. The dawn that brings hope and a chance for a new start. For the rain.