Wednesday, August 19, 2020

THE SPECTRUM OF WOW

It is especially important during these times to pay attention to moments of awe. Whenever they occur I encourage you to pause for at least a few more seconds and take them in more deeply. There are daily moments of small WOWS, periodic moments of medium WOWS and occasional moments of BIG WOWS!! I refer to them as the "spectrum of WOW".

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.