Time flies, and sometimes we feel like we never have enough. According to some research, the answer to this problem might lie in finding more awe in our lives.
Awe is something that fills you with wonder. It is a jaw-dropping experience that takes your breath away. This is often something so powerful and extraordinary that words cannot adequately describe the feeling. It stops you in your tracks. The experience of awe is often connected to vastness of size. This could be a physical size, like being near a large mountain or the ocean, or it could be an emotional vastness brought on by music, art, love, or a spiritual experience. It could even be an idea that is so vast or complex that it doesn’t fit into our normal understanding of the world.
Researchers at Stanford University have been looking at the connection between awe and our perception of time. They have found that people who experience awe feel that they have more time in their life. They’ve also found that people that feel this way are more likely to volunteer to help others. Lending a helping hand is something that obviously takes time, but when we feel we have more of it, we’re likely to be more generous.
Researchers believe perceptions of having more time in our lives are triggered by heightened awareness of the moment brought on by awe. Many of us often feel so busy that we seldom stop and smell the roses. Instead, we juggle multiple responsibilities, always thinking of the next thing, which makes us feel that we have a shortage of time. When we step out of our everyday patterns and experience awe, we naturally slow down and notice what is happening in the moment. This noticing or heightened power of attention makes us feel as though more things can fit into a small period of time, which leads us to feel time-rich.
While the jury is still out as to how awe expands our sense of time and our generosity, experiencing awe makes us feel alive. Einstein once said, “The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and all science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead: his eyes are closed.”
References:
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-awe-stops-the-clock/
https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/eight_reasons_why_awe_makes_your_life_better
Time flies. It sometimes feels like we never have enough. The answer to this problem might be in finding more awe in our lives.
Awe is something that fills you with wonder. It’s a jaw-dropping feeling. It takes your breath away. It is powerful and extraordinary. Words cannot describe it. It stops you in your tracks. The feeling of awe is often connected to vastness of size. This could be a physical size, like being near a large mountain or the ocean. It could be an emotional vastness brought on by music, art, love, or a religion. It could even be an idea that doesn’t fit into our normal understanding of the world.
Researchers have been looking at the connection between awe and time. They have found that people who feel awe feel that they have more time in their life. They’ve also found that people that feel this way are more likely to help others. When we feel we have more time, we’re more likely to be generous.
Some believe that feeling time-rich is triggered by awareness of the moment brought on by awe. Many of us often feel so busy that we don’t stop and smell the roses. Instead, we are busy working our jobs and caring for our families. We are always thinking of the next thing that needs doing. This makes us feel that we have no time. When we step out of our everyday patterns and feel awe, we naturally slow down. We notice what is happening in the moment. This noticing makes us feel as though more things can fit into a small period of time. This leads us to feel time-rich.
The jury is still out as to how awe affects time and makes us more helpful, but awe does make us feel alive. Einstein once said, without awe, we are “as good as dead.” “It is the source of all true art and all science.”
References:
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-awe-stops-the-clock/
https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/eight_reasons_why_awe_makes_your_life_better
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