These experiences of awe are always salient and
yet we tend to quickly move on from them. During this very difficult period of
many losses and great uncertainty about the future these WOW moments are
especially significant because they uplift our Souls, can recharge our tired
batteries, ground us and are beacons of hope in the darkness.
SMALL WOWS
Just as we were beginning our first session outside after months of phone sessions a
patient encouraged me to look above and behind me. We both paused and witnessed
droplets of overnight rain on pine needles bathing in the morning light. It was
a moment of shared WOW.
Sitting on the back porch of the home of another patient
who has early onset dementia - phone sessions did not work with him - we both
smiled at the WOW of the rumbles of thunder in the sky above his field of grass.
We talked about our shared love of thunder and lightning, liking the power of
nature and edginess of those moments. Periodically during this session the
thunder returned. Each time we paused and enjoyed the WOWS of that moment. Even
within the issues created by "his condition" he could savor these moments - even
more so there are so many things he cannot do. For each of us there are so many
small moments of potential awe in each day. A hummingbird hovering over a
flower, a small child running into a parent or grandparents arms, a moving piece
of music, a good play/shot in sports, a moment of witnessing beauty, the initial
bite of ice cream on a hot day.... So many. It's important to notice and take
them in. They can lift our spirits when the cumulative effect of what is
happening is weighing us down.
MEDIUM WOWS
Amidst the fear, pain, losses and diviseness of these times
we are all witnessing or hear about many individual
acts of loving kindness and everyday heroism. They touch our hearts deeply and
remind us of what we are capable of - our innate ability to rise above our
personal concerns and help others who are in need. WOW. So many stories. So
inspiring and hopeful. Sometimes a current experience can remind us of an
earlier WOW.
Last week I was listening to a jazz CD and it reminded me of an
experience at the Newport Jazz Festival a few years ago. I was at the Festival
with two of my sons (Mark and Scott) and each of the had brought one of their
children(10 year old Thomas and 6 year old Noelle). It rained all day. Walking
from one venue to another - even though the gig was under a huge tent - you
could get drenched. I was sitting under a tent dry and unable to save any seats
when Noelle and her dad arrived very wet and stood in the nearby aisle. Thomas
and his dad were also soaked and stood in the aisle on the other side of me. At
that moment a man got up and offered Thomas his seat. Thomas then beckoned for
Noelle to sit on his lap. Then the woman next to them offered Noelle a towel and
helped to dry her. Shortly after that Jon Batiste was on stage and said, "For
the next song I would ask you to close your eyes and think of it as a
meditation". Then he sang,"What a Wonderful World" in the style that his hero
Louis Armstrong sang it. I became tearful and on the second chorus I began
weeping. I had just witnessed a few minutes before these simple moments of human
kindness. My heart became full again as I remembered it.
During this time when other ways of being together feel unsafe and usual sources of
entertainment are closed many people are taking walks in natural settings. This offers
opportunities for WOWS - if we are open to them. If you are walking by yourself
periodically take a few minuttes to stop and close your eyes. If you are with
someone you can do this together. Listen to the sounds, smell the aromas, touch
what is next to you. Opening to your other senses will help you to be more
present and less focused on your thoughts. This will gradually open your
consciousness to more WOWS. The whole walk can be an individual or shared sense
of awe.
BIG WOWS
Periodically there are moments with our spouse/partner/lover
when we look at them with BIG LOVE - a feeling different from our ordinary
everyday love. Its as if the essence of their being - their soul - is just
shining brightly and our souls are open and vulnerable too. We are just being
there with our beloved. In AWE of his/her Beauty. A similar thing happens with
our children or grandchildren. There are special instances when the jewel of
their personhood is so clear. We are totally present and witnessing her/his
essential nature. BIG WOWS!
When we witness a special sunset, a huge rainbow, an
ancient redwood a .... It is so important in these unique moments in nature to
resist the impulse to quickly take out our cameras and try to capture the
uncapturable. Instead I encourage you to just to be with the bigness of the
moment. To take in more deeply the awesomeness of a rare experience. It will
help us to deepen our connection to the natural world to realize that we are
part of - not outside of - nature.
Periodically we are moved deeply by a piece
of music or art or a dance performance or some other of the myriad forms of
artistic expression. "Something" of the Beauty of it is touching our souls and
hearts in a way that is unique to the moment. We are being lifted up and out of
the ordinary into the extraordinary.
Again it is so important to allow ourselves
to be transported into some other realm of experiencing. These WOWS are
important at any time, but are especially vital at this time when our souls
yearn to be lifted up, to push away the emotional weight of these heavy times
and for a while to be free. If we are going to be able to sustain ourselves
during these times all of our moments of WOW - big and small - are essential not
extra.
Recently I had an experience of BIG WOW. I live in a small home on two
and a half acres surrounded by large pine trees. On this afternoon I was sitting
on a wooden bench alongside a brook that runs through our property about twenty
feet from the back of our home. As I was about to take the first bite of my
luncheon sandwich I looked to my left and there was a young buck with small
antlers about thirty feet away just browsing on some vegetation. He looked at
me, I looked at him. As I was looking, inside my mind I said to him"Be not
afraid of me, I will not harm you". He continued to munch away periodically
looking up to glance at me as I ate my sandwich. Then after about five or ten
minutes he moved about ten feet closer, looked at me and looking at him again I
said internslly"Be not afraid of me". We both continued to munch on our food.
Then I said to myself "We are having lunch together". After several more minutes
another same sized young buck appeared! He came even closer to me and they both
browsed for a while. Perhaps they were buddies. After a few more minutes the
first one slowly wandered up the hill behind our home continuing to enjoy his
food. His friend gradually followed him except he walked up on the stone pathway
that my wife and I had built years before so that we could walk up to a
meditation spot on the top of the hill. In no hurry, clearly enjoying what was
on the menu on our property, they both slowly drifted over the hill. This was
one of the biggest nature WOWS of my life!!!
The busyness of our ordinary lives coupled with the significant extra stresses of trying to navigate these extra-ordinary times are very draining. The psychological impact is cumulative and will continue to build as we live with so much ongoing uncertainty about where this is all going. These moments of small, medium and big WOWS will uplift our spirits and help recharge our batteries to sustain us. The WOWS also connect us to other aspects of our individual consciousness that transcend and coexist with our ordinary consciousnesds. If we open to the moments of AWE they can help us to deepen our connection to other aspects of our own being, to the consciousness of others and to other realms of larger interconnectedness. We need all of that during these times.
