Finding Awe

Welcome to In Constant Awe, my medium for expressing my thoughts, my ideas, my dreams. Sharing it to anyone who have time to spare to find inspiration, to tickle their imagination, or just simply pass time.

The Blog is inspired by this TED Talk: https://www.ted.com/talks/beau_lotto_and_cirque_du_soleil_how_we_experience_awe_and_why_it_matters#t-857446

When was the last time you were in Awe?

When was the first time you experienced Awe?

I have to admit that I was already an adult when I experienced awe. That feeling that takes your breath away, that overwhelming emotion that comes with it. Growing up with very little money, awe was not a priority in the family. Education, Food, Housing, in that order of priority is how I grew up. Fortunately, through good education, I completed college and successfully landed a job that took me to the United States for a conference. It was a conference held at Anaheim California. At the end of the conference, I had convinced myself to purchase a day pass in Disney Land. I was an adult, visiting Disney Land for the first time. The story books, all the magazine articles about Disney, has come to life. It was magical. To cap the evening, Disney sets out fireworks at 10pm. A group of us waited for hours to get the best seat. And during the fireworks display, I was in awe! I was in awe that tears came running down my eyes, that this is so beautiful I wish my family was there to witness it with me. I had never seen anything that colorful, perfectly executed display of lights, as the songs of your childhood play in the background.

Over the years, I have continuously try to find myself in situation where I was in awe. Seeing The Grand Canyon for the first time, that same emotions came back. But this time, on a deeper pull. My eyes were opened by the wonder of nature. The beauty of the world. The forces that surrounds us, the inevitable strength, patience, and effect of time that is so prevalent staring at the grandeur of The Grand Canyon. Then I felt I am a little, single dust in the equation of the laws of nature. That my will alone is enough, that sometimes, I have to surrender to forces of nature so that it may sculpt a grandeur that is my life.

All these awe-inducing experiences, in my mind are to be sought. To be prepared for, planned for. But the TED Talk says otherwise. That we need to re-calibrate ourselves. That the simplest things may induce that emotion, that intense feeling of connectedness, that feeling of your will alone is not enough. For this first post, I'd like you to reminisce that first time you felt awe. That rush of sensation, when all your senses are activated, that you want to feel, and see, and hear. There are many reasons to be in awe if we only allow ourselves to do so. And as we do, we will feel connected, inspired, and ready to move forward.

More to come, talk to you all soon.