Awe practice
The photo above reminds me of a magical moment drifting through Lake Huron on a not-so-common, no-sweatshirt-needed, summer evening. The setting sun spilled sparkling gemstones across the water. They seemed to be dancing toward me. Each golden gem glimmered and bounced with its own unique cadence over each ripple — all the ingredients for a moment of awe. (Cue your favorite diamonds or gold lyrics.)
The lyrics in my mind were from Rihanna: Shine Bright Like a Diamond
In a photo, it is nearly impossible to capture the magic movements that make some scenes so remarkable and memorable. This evening on the lake was a rare instance that moved me to capture a moment on video.
Each time I watch the video, I feel the warm breeze brush my hair on the side of my face, and my body totally relaxes just as it was in that moment when my feet rested on the bow railing that night. I can even hear the low-speed gurgle of the engine sucking in water and splashing it back out to propel us ever so slightly, slowly moving us away from the land behind which the sun would soon sink.
A knowing washed over me like there couldn’t be a more amazing place to be. This moment wouldn’t last forever, and a still-shot photo would surely be, too still to hold on to it all.
When we have these moments, writing a descriptive awe narrative helps us better recall every detail in our minds. Photos and images are helpful as well. Videos can be even better. Watching a video is like a mini awecation anytime we need it.
In three experiments, participants were induced to feel awe — such as by watching an awe-inspiring video — as well as other emotions. People who experienced awe felt that they had more time available to themselves, were less impatient, were more willing to volunteer their time to help others, preferred having positive experiences over material products, and reported greater life satisfaction.
— Melanie Rudd, Ph.D.
How could we say no to the suggested positive shifts of such experiences? The best part — the potential impact of awe can be delivered through such an easy access point as awe-inspiring videos.
Of course, there are big awe moments, like when we walk up to the edge of the Grand Canyon or take a trip to Mars. Oh, yes, those things don’t happen often. Actually, maybe never. Even when we do experience big and small moments of awe, are we able to capture them on video? Not always.
I have captured very few moments on video in my lifetime. I am inclined to photos. Here are a few moments of motion that I knew I wanted to hold onto. I hope they will bring you a flash of awe, remind you of one of your own awe adventures, or prompt you to find some other videos that will induce awe —the possibilities are endless, and benefits are priceless.
Let’s get started with this video tour.
And a blue-light transformation I wanted to experience in motion:
So, what are we to do if we want more awe-inspiring videos? Sometimes we have videos of our own tucked away, or maybe it is our luck that someone else captured a moment of awe that would take our breath away. (That reminds me, I want to get my sister’s video of glaciers calving in Alaska. I lost my recording. I am looking forward to experiencing that again —without having to travel all the way to Alaska.) Either way, if the content is ours or something borrowed, it is worth our time to watch some awemazing videos.
Here are a few other things to consider:
- More expansive, professional time-lapse videos are often most impressive.
- Try videos with and without audio —natural sounds or edited to include music. Both have different effects. Here is an example of a holiday video captured by Ellie Jacobson in her story A Family Stroll Through Christmas Past. The sound of the jingle bells added an overwhelming nostalgic feeling that transported me through time to my own awe-filled holiday experience from my childhood.
- Videos from others allow us to go places we have never been before and also to revisit some of our own favorite places from someone else’s perspective.
If, by any chance, you are not already convinced to expand your video-inspired awe practice, here is a little more encouragement from the Greater Good Science Center:
Look for more daily experiences of awe. Awe reduces the stresses and difficulties of living. —Dacher Keltner, Ph.D.
The latest research suggests that taking the time to experience awe — whether through engaging with nature, enjoying great art or music, or even bingeing on breathtaking YouTube videos — may be a pathway to improving your life and relationships. — Summer Allen, Ph.D.
And, for some more research and practice with this awe practice:
Awe Video (Greater Good in Action)
Four minutes Set aside four minutes to watch the video below.
Awe Practice: Video, Greater Good Science Center
Thanks for reading. I hope everyone finds videos to open the floodgates of the most intense feelings of awe, leading to other positive shifts in feelings and actions. Especially if you are having one of those, crawl back under the covers kind of days, cue an awe inspiring-video and carry on, with a smile on your face and in your heart.
Note: My images are created in Canva, downloaded as GIF files. I adjusted the size of the images and the length of the videos to meet the Medium GIF size limit of under 25MB.
By K. Barrett