I feel like everyone wants to be more present. But sometimes it’s hard to understand what would change. I’d feel things more, I suppose. I’d see and hear more than I do now. I’d probably have less moments with my eyes glossed over.

But I wondered at times if there was more to it than that. And recently, I have been working on it. I scroll less, I go for walks without my phone, I try to meditate every day. I wanted to see if I could increase my presence.

One of the things I noticed is that I have more moments of… well I don’t really know what to call it.

There's a word in Japanese, mono no aware, that roughly translates to "the bittersweet awareness of impermanence."
It’s a really sweet word, that semi captures what I feel. Little moments where I pause for a breath as the sun rises, or notice the wind passing over my skin.

That specific feeling of beauty, and alliveness, like I am truly witnessing the world. Or better yet, existing in it. The closest word I could come up with was awe.

I looked awe up. It turns out it’s been studied quite a bit.

Dacher Keltner at UC Berkeley has spent years studying what awe does to us. His definition is precise: awe happens when we encounter something vast that transcends our current understanding of the world.

But Keltner says that awe is not rare. Studies say that people report experiencing it two to three times a week. A song on the drive home. A stranger's unexpected kindness. The way light comes through a window at a certain hour.

Most of us are having awe experiences and not fully registering them.

You might be thinking: so what. It sounds nice. But I'm busy and I missed a sunset and the world kept moving.

It’s more than that feeling in that moment. A 2015 study measured inflammatory markers called cytokines, particularly IL-6, which are linked to chronic stress, depression, and cardiovascular disease and how they were impacted by different positive emotions. Joy. Contentment. Love. Pride.

Awe was the highest predictor of lower inflammation. It activates the parasympathetic nervous system, the "rest and digest" mode, in a way that other positive emotions don't quite reach.

But I’ll leave you with this. People who experience awe consistently feel like they have more time¹.
In controlled studies, they estimate they have more hours available, make more patient decisions, and feel less rushed.

Awe expands time. Or at least our experience of it.

When we feel awe, our sense of our own importance temporarily shrinks. So do the anxieties, and decisions, and stresses in our life. We feel connected to the world.

For me, it didn’t take a lot. A walk every morning without my phone. Noticing one thing I may not have noticed before. Consciously swimming against the rush.

Until next time,

Live your light.