When was the last time you were in AWE?

earllogjam

Expert Member
Joined
Aug 15, 2006
Posts
4,917
Media
0
Likes
186
Points
193
Sexuality
No Response
Yeah, dumbstruck, left speechless, totally consumed, giddy with delight. The experience of something so much greater than you that it left you humbled.

It is a rare experience in any lifetime. I have encountered it twice - once as a child next to the sheer volume of water flowing off Niagra Falls, and again in the pristine beauty of the Canadian Rockies. I don't think the experience is exclusive to nature but mine have been. Would be interested in hearing what others have experienced.

I invite you to share your experiences with the sublime.....
 

sdg475

Superior Member
Verified
Gold
Joined
Jan 31, 2007
Posts
647
Media
95
Likes
7,737
Points
598
Location
NYC
Verification
View
Sexuality
90% Straight, 10% Gay
Gender
Male
Sticking with the nature theme...about two weeks ago I saw a huge black bear while hiking. It was the first time that I had seen a bear in the wild. It's amazing how jaded we become after seeing pictures of things, but then when we see them for ourselves we are blown away. The bear was very docile so my professor and I were able to get pretty close to it (40-50' i'm guessing). The sheer size and power of the bear was humbling, they really are magnificent creatures.
 

B_Kshelby67

1st Like
Joined
May 4, 2007
Posts
408
Media
0
Likes
1
Points
161
After I graduated college, I went to Costa Rica. I have always wanted to see the rainforest. Even though I graduated with a psychology degree, I entered school a zoology major and had always wanted to be Dian Fossey. So, as a gift from my uncle, I was allowed two weeks anywhere I wanted in the world, and I could take any one person with me.
I, without hesitation, chose Costa Rica. Stepping into the jungle for the first time was beyong incredible. I will never forget the sounds, the green everywhere, the unbelievable beauty that man had not tainted. It was overwhelming.
 

SassySpy

Expert Member
Joined
Dec 14, 2006
Posts
1,257
Media
17
Likes
139
Points
208
Location
Seattle USA,
Sexuality
99% Straight, 1% Gay
Gender
Female
I remember the first, and the last.
the first was nearly like you earl- as we came over a hill nearing Denver and I saw the rockies, I got all choked up at the majestic beauty that had withstood so much. I never cease to be in awe of nature, in any form.
the last time, was when a friend asked me to be in the delivery room when she gave birth. I have never been as awestruck as I was then. Wow. even the memory gives me goosebumps.
For the longest time afterwards, I explored reincarnation theories, thinking I would get to come back and not get cancer and not lose my chance to give birth.
Now I am just waiting for technology to figure out uterus transplants-:cool::tongue:
 

ruffboy

Legendary Member
Joined
Sep 24, 2006
Posts
1,759
Media
1
Likes
1,339
Points
333
Location
United States
Sexuality
No Response
sea kayaking when a humpback jumped free of the water about 200 yards in front of me

hiking the na pali coast

discovering, off the mapped paths and trailss, native american ruins in the southwest

sunsets and sunrises almost regularly

the first few episodes of ty pennington's "exteme home makeover", seeing humanity and true caring in action never fails to bring me to my knees
 

SassySpy

Expert Member
Joined
Dec 14, 2006
Posts
1,257
Media
17
Likes
139
Points
208
Location
Seattle USA,
Sexuality
99% Straight, 1% Gay
Gender
Female
sea kayaking when a humpback jumped free of the water about 200 yards in front of me

hiking the na pali coast

discovering, off the mapped paths and trailss, native american ruins in the southwest

sunsets and sunrises almost regularly

the first few episodes of ty pennington's "exteme home makeover", seeing humanity and true caring in action never fails to bring me to my knees

Gosh how could i forget?? in the middle period of my two events, a lifelong and I mean all my life, dream came true, when some orcas got lost a little in a nearby inlet. I was in a tiny skiff, they were within arms reach, and never had I seen such gentle beauty from such a feared giant. They were so absolutely incredible.. and that night my horoscope for the day said I would have an 'opportunity for a lifetime dream to come true'. EErie, huh? I saved the horoscope and the pics i took- but the memory inside me can never be fully understood by another. :smile:
 

earllogjam

Expert Member
Joined
Aug 15, 2006
Posts
4,917
Media
0
Likes
186
Points
193
Sexuality
No Response
I remember as a child standing right next to the side of the falls being mesmerized by the sheer volume of water going over the falls. I stood there dazed for about a half an hour. I became lost in that world of water and forgot about myself for a while. I was the waterfall. It was a very odd thing as a kid. I was very quiet after that for a long while. Being part of something uncomprehensible and bigger than me was a new sensation. I liked it and have been seeking it ever since.

I took a trip to the Canadian Rockies - to Emerald Lake near Lake Louise. It was so incredibly beautiful there, surreal emerald water, other worldy mountains cutting into the sky, peaceful, calm, untouched, pristine wilderness.

And the strange thing was that everybody I encountered, fellow hikers, and tourists were affected by the sheer beauty and had the same understanding and awe for it as I. We all kind of dumbly smiled at each other. People were giddy, bemused, and full of joy in the midst of such greatness. Lots of silence I remember as people just took the beauty in. It felt like like you were a part of something great, something beyond your understanding, sublime. Our national parks are truly a treasure to keep our connection with the sublime. I understand John Muir now and what inspired Ansel Adams. I think part of the experience about being in awe is that you forget about yourself for a while and become a part of this greater thing, connected.
 

Ethyl

Legendary Member
Joined
Apr 5, 2006
Posts
5,194
Media
19
Likes
1,714
Points
333
Location
Philadelphia (Pennsylvania, United States)
Sexuality
99% Straight, 1% Gay
Gender
Female
1) Last November my friends gave birth to their first child. Right before Christmas, I made a visit to see little Max. It's always a joyous occasion to see new life but observing his father as he was immersed in this child's presence, unbelieving that he had a role in the making of his son, made my heart melt. I felt privileged to witness that kind of awe and wonder.

2) 2 years ago, I nursed a day-old sparrow to adulthood. The moment she opened her eyes and saw me, I became "mommy" to her. It still brings tears to my eyes thinking about it.
 

No_Strings

Expert Member
Joined
Feb 8, 2007
Posts
3,967
Media
0
Likes
178
Points
283
Location
Dubai (United Arab Emirates)
Does seeing a pic in the LPSG gallery count? :tongue:

Being dumbstruck, or certainly speechless, isn't a supremely rare thing for me, but the times when I have been in complete awe of something is.

My long term memory isn't exactly astounding, but off the top of my head I can remember;

-The first time I truly saw a sunset, on a beach in Northern Italy.

-The first time I flew, I was in awe of the sights for pretty much 2 hours straight.

-Replays of the 1966 World Cup Final :redface:
 

biguy2738

Experimental Member
Joined
Mar 27, 2007
Posts
2,310
Media
7
Likes
22
Points
183
Location
Johannesburg, South Africa
Sexuality
50% Straight, 50% Gay
Gender
Male
I went on an archeological excavation about four years ago. We worked on two sites:

The first one was a the village of a tribe that had been burnt to the ground after they were completely annihilated by the Swazis. To sit and excavate portions of the wall that had baked hard as rock from the heat of the fire while being blackened by the ash and soot...whew, intense emotions...awe at being able help uncover their story, and sorrow in knowing that nearly every male member had been killed.

The second site was a truly awesome experience...It was a stone age site where the entire area was littered with either stone age tools, or the remains of them. You could literally bend down and pick up a stone with the knowledge that you had about a 3 out of 5 chance of picking up a stone age tool. To be able to hold something that had been formed into a tool between 30 to 300 thousand years ago (I think I have the age right) was a very awe-some experience. The privilege still blows me away.
 

IntoxicatingToxin

Cherished Member
Joined
Sep 10, 2006
Posts
7,638
Media
0
Likes
256
Points
283
Location
Kansas City (Missouri, United States)
Sexuality
99% Straight, 1% Gay
Gender
Female
I have a five year old son, which means that I have mini moments everyday where he just boggles my mind. But the last time I was truly in awe, was about a week ago. My son had fallen asleep in my bed, and when I got tired, I crawled in bed next to him. He was so perfect right then. The way the dim light from my bedstand table slanted across his face. His sweet little breaths. His long eyelashes. His cute, perfect little lips. His soft skin. The way he sighs in his sleep. It was all too much for me.
 

SpeedoGuy

Sexy Member
Joined
May 18, 2004
Posts
4,166
Media
7
Likes
41
Points
258
Age
60
Location
Pacific Northwest, USA
Sexuality
99% Straight, 1% Gay
Gender
Male
...once as a child next to the sheer volume of water flowing off Niagra Falls...

For me it was rafting through the Grand Canyon in June 1983, the year I turned 20. 1983 was the year of the record run-off of snowmelt water from the huge El Nino snowpack of the western slopes of the Colorado Rockies.

The river rose, day by day, through the trip. By the time we reached Crystal Rapids (mile 97) the river was flowing at over 70,000. We stopped to scout Crystal before running it and the violence was fearsome to behold. There was a roar audible a mile upriver and spumes of spray lofted skyward from the violence of the turbulent water. Thousands of tons of water were cascading against submerged boulders creating giant standing waves that writhed with insidious fury for a quarter mile downriver. Crystal was so powerful the ground vibrated under our feet as we stood by the side of the river. The rapid was clearly capable of demolishing even the largest rafts handled by the most experienced river guides.

http://web.umr.edu/~rogersda/grand_canyon_research/Crystal '83-1.jpg
 

earllogjam

Expert Member
Joined
Aug 15, 2006
Posts
4,917
Media
0
Likes
186
Points
193
Sexuality
No Response
AWE

There is something about the vastness and beauty of nature that makes the self feel small and insignificant, and anything that shrinks the self creates an opportunity for spiritual experience. Sages (and psychologists) have long written abut the many ways in which people feel as though they have multiple selves or intelligences which sometimes conflict. This division is often explained by positing a soul—a higher, noble, spiritual self – which is tied down to a body – a lower, base, carnal self. It’s as though the soul were a helium balloon tied to a brick. The soul escapes the body only at death, but before then, spiritual practices, great sermons, and awe at nature can give the soul a taste of the freedom to come.


Awe is the emotion of self-transcendence. The scientific psychology has almost nothing to say about awe. It can’t be studied in other animals or created easily in the lab, so it doesn’t lend itself to experimental research. But philosophers, sociologists, and theologians had a great deal to say about it. As we trace the word “awe” back in history, we discover that it has always had a link to fear and submission in the presence of something much greater than the self.

The emotion of awe happens when two conditions are met: a person perceives something vast (usually physically vast, but sometimes conceptually vast, such as a grand theory, or socially vast, such as great fame or power); and the vast thing cannot be accommodated by the person’s existing mental structures. Something enormous can’t be processed, and when people are stumped, stopped in their cognitive tracks while in the presence of something vast, they feel small, powerless, passive, and receptive. They often (though not always) feel fear, admiration, elevation, or a sense of beauty as well. By stopping people and making them receptive, awe creates an opening for change, and this is why awe plays a role in most stories of religious conversion.