Awe (NEW 7/24)

Awe * wonder

Photo: Helix Nebula (Astrophotography Lens)

What is “Awe” as an emotion? Keltner and Haidt (2003) and Keltner (2023) define it this way
            “Awe is the feeling of being in the presence of something vast that transcends your current understanding of the world.”

They point out eight “wonders” that can include awe:

                        Moral beauty (stories/examples of goodness, kindness, strength, overcoming)
                        Collective effervescence (a group feeling of being active, positive and full of energy -- Too bad it has such a complex definition. It is just positive energy in a group, something all English teachers know).
                        Nature
                        Music
                        Visual design
                        Stories of spiritual and spiritual awe
                        Stories of life and death
                        Epiphanies (experiences of sudden understanding of essential truth).

Keltner has a new(ish) (2023) book on the topic. Here's the link to the book on Amazon-Japan and here's the link to it on Powell's (USA).

HERE is a presentation on Happiness 3.0 that I did for Niigata JALT's NEAR conference, Summer, 2024. It includes AWE (the last segment).

What is awe? HERE is a short slide show that defines Awe. It is based on Awestruck by Alexandra Franzen.

The following are activities I do with my EFL/ELT students to help them understand and experience AWE.

Picture this. Download this handout. Make one copy for each student (I print them on various colors of paper, just for variety). Play 3-4 minutes of a "fairly dark" piece of music. Have them imagine the story. They draw the scene (you might want the music to continue while. they draw). . They should include themselves in the picture. After they draw, they compare the pictures. Possible music: Bergerson: Victory (2 steps from hell. Vivaldi: The seasons:Winter.

Stories of moral beauty. Download these two stories: the wheelchair and Kafka, the girl and the doll. Make copies so half the class has a copy of each. Follow the instructions at the top of the paper. They read the story, then practice reading it aloud. Then, in pairs, they read their storyto their partner. They see how they feel afterwards. Note: Most students don't know who Kafka was. It doesn't matter. They might be interested (after the stories) to know that his famous stories are rather dark and depressing. This is a contrast to the story here.

My Stories. Download the handout. Each student draws 6 pictures of important events in their lives. They tell their partner about the most interesting one(s). HERE is the short version (they think of 6 ideas but only draw 2. HERE iss the long version (they draw all 6). Idea from Emily Willroth, Washington University.

Example of students' "my stories."

Other storytelling topics (Partner, ask questions.)

A transition ceremony (a graduation, your coming-of-age ceremony, a time you “grew up.”)
A place you visited when you felt “Awe
A time you felt successful learning English (or something else)
An experience you will never forget.
Have you every had an experience you just can’t explain. Try.
You (or someone – perhaps a child – discovers something that created a FEELING of WONDER!
Something that made you FULL OF JOY!

• Awe walk ( or “Wonder Walk” – use this name, especially if you teach kids). Walk outside (ideally in nature) for 15-20 minutes. People are probably alone. Phones are turned off or on airline mode (unless you want them taking pictures. You may want a “debriefing time” at the end for people to share what they noticed.
HERE is the Powerpoint I use to introduce Awe walks.  (Sorry, I couldn't get the slide show to upload. Email me and I'll send you a copy] marchelgesen(at)gmail.com.)
            • Variations: give everyone a postcard listing the five main senses (seeing, hearing, touch/feeling, smell, taste). Have them take notes about what they experience. They likely won’t be tasting anything so you might want to bring something for them to eat during “debriefing.” (I’m keen on multi-flavored chocolate).
            • wabi sabi – traditional Japanese beauty that is “imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete.” Many of us walk past examples of wabi sabi every day and don’t notice. Examples include Japanese gardens with big rocks and stone lanterns, trees trimmed in unusual ways.
            • nature sounds – as they walk, invite them to notice nature sounds such as various bird calls, other animal sounds, the wind in branches, children playing, etc.
            • Look at the sky.
• Forest bathing (NPR) Forest bathing isn't the same as an awe walk, but if you are doing forest bathing, it is a good time to turn it into an awe walk. This is a short (3 minute) story from NPR that includes things to do.

Once you've introduced the idea of an Awe Walk, You can start classes (or give students a break during class, with a one-minute awe viewing. Just play one of videos. Encourage them to notice the same things they noticed on their awe walk. (Note: some videos are long. You'll have to stop them after a minute or two).

A park (each park is different. One-minute each)

Butterflies (long) From caterpiller to butterfly Dogs and babies laughing (long)

Flowers blooming (long) Dandelions growing (long) Baby animals (long)

• Dance like no one is watching. As they do some group interaction activity, put on background music. See if people start moving in rhythm. Variation: after a few minutes, start disco light. See if people start moving in rhythm (you can get disco light for as little as 1500 yen at amazon.

• My museum – Bring a souvenir or photo of something you got someplace else. Tell you partners about it.

• Goosebumps (鳥肌が立つ/ torihadagatatsu). When have you had goosebumps? Why? What happened? The might think about these emotions: excited, scared, confused. Note that goosebumps can happen for positive or negative reasons. Awe is like that.

• Music that touched (touches) your heart. It doesn't really need to be a special song. Just singing together creates a collective feeling.

• Jason Walters' AWE activities list. Jason is a colleague at NUFS in Nagoya. He is working on Awe as well. Here is a list of activity ideas he sent me after reading Keltner's book.

“A child’s world is fresh and new and beautiful, full of wonder and excitement”. - Rachel Carson

Carson, R. in Long, K. (2014) An Outdoor Educator’s Guide to AWE. Cumbria, CA: The
Outward Bound Trust. 31.
Keltner, D. (2023) Awe: The New Science of Everyday Wonder and How it can Transform
Your Life. New York: Penguin Press.
Keltner, D. & Haidt, J. (2003). “Approaching Awe, A Moral, Aesthetic, and Spiritual
Emotion.” Cognition & Emotion 17, 297-314.