Recently, I listened to a podcast episode of Point of Relation, Embodying Our Soul’s Capacity, featuring Thomas Hübl, Dr. Sará King, and Dr. Dan Siegel. They spoke of the lack of human development in our extended relationship—how we relate to the world we share. Several takeaways were:
Self-expanding emotions: empathy, compassion, awe, and gratitude.
Radical friendship
The flimsy state of certainty
The collective nervous system
Processing (as I tend to do) on my morning hike, I thought about awe and how it is the root word of “awesome,” a nearly every-day expression, like, well, like. It struck me that I completely overlook the tiny and powerful root word each time I use the phrase, and what a diminishing act that becomes.
Awe: an emotion variously combining dread, veneration, and wonder that is inspired by authority or by the sacred or sublime (Merriam Webster, 2024).
A more thorough exploration of awe may be found in a Good Science article called The Science of Awe (S. Allen, 2013). An excerpt from that material:
Feelings of awe can be positive or negative—unlike most other emotions—and can arise from a wide range of stimuli. In a landmark 2003 paper, psychologists Dacher Keltner and Jonathan Haidt presented a “conceptual approach to awe.” In this paper, Keltner and Haidt suggested that awe experiences can be characterized by two phenomena: “perceived vastness” and a “need for accommodation.”
As I was hiking and processing awe, my dog's ears perked, and I became aware of what sounded like an ethereal orchestra. I wondered if someone was listening to music as they hiked. Not seeing anyone, I went off trail and discovered a wind choir. When I saw the source, a sense of awe and delight came over me. I realized how many three-letter awe moments I miss, waiting for a “Big Bang” of awesomeness.
Over the last month, I completed an enormous task. I created a new business website out of nothing. When I write “nothing,” I refer to zero website design education or experience. My previous websites were developed by my web-design educated daughter. Please send her your condolences. It was a difficult project….er….I was difficult. I didn’t know exactly what I wanted or what it took to make a website.
I do now.
It took a year from start to finish and at best guess, a billion new brain synapses and as researchers Haidt and Keltner would put it, achieving a “perceived vastness” and a huge gulp of “accomodation.”
Last April, I became overwhelmed after choosing the graphic design and didn’t return to it until a few weeks ago. What’s awe-interesting is that when I reentered the ring filled with dread, my fearsome webby opponent immediately seemed familiar. Overwhelm hung in the background, waiting to leap, but instead, Webby and I got to know each other. With each page, the synapses in my brain strengthened or with eMMe flare—my brain achieved some definition to its six-pack.
When it was done, I had a working website. I had also invited feedback from friends and family and taken much of their advice. It might be new information to you, dear reader, but to those who know me, I’m generally not a person who asks for input, and if I do, rarely am I able to listen, assess for value, and shift my gears or adjust my thinking. Awe-some indeed.
It can seem commonplace—a windmill emitting a symphonic requiem or a human suddenly evolving beyond an echo from their past. It’s also complex and dramatic. Perhaps the root of awe is the simple combination of three letters and the wild and phenomenal explosion of the “theoretical” Big Bang.
For me, the feeling of awe as I listened to the wind choir and then looked at my finished website was intricate, colossal, and exquisite. I was surprised by both experiences and filled with the miraculous nature of possibility.
Scroll down for an excerpt about my practice and the link to my new friend Webby.
HI, I’M eMMe.
My name is pronounced “ah-me.” In the video below, I explain why I legally changed the name on my birth certificate and how the “eMMe” name came to be. It is an example of what I mean when using the phrase “to intentionally evolve.”
AT ITS OPTIMUM, I BELIEVE LIFE IS AN ONGOING, INTENTIONALLY EVOLVING PROCESS—NOT SIMPLY AN ENDURANCE TEST. I CONSIDER THIS CONCEPT OF PRIMARY, ALL-LIFE-SURVIVAL IMPORTANCE, WITH THE HEALTH OF THE PLANET AND FUTURE GENERATIONS DEPENDENT UPON PEOPLE TURNING ENDURANCE LIVES INTO LIVING LIVES.
I approach this work with embodiment-evolving, focused intention, offering clients bodywork and coaching sessions to help them feel more deeply into their experience.
Frequently, I use “evolving” in place of “healing” because I believe we are organisms in an ongoing state of evolution, and the word “healing” can often have an end result attached to it. Similar to other relationships, our relationship with our physical experience is continually changing.