Telluride Daily Planet, Friday, September 12, 2025

“This is the first, wildest and wisest thing I know, that the soul exists and that it is built entirely out of attentiveness.” — Mary Oliver

As a teenager growing up in Seattle, I was pretty unhappy, frankly, given the Catholic girls’ school, the rules in my father’s kingdom and the fact that all my siblings were already out of the house. (If it’s any indication, my dad would sometimes call me his “little cloud.”) I found solace and escape in books and music via my transistor radio and a small but well-worn collection of vinyl.

Occasionally, there were portals that would open up, tiny moments of grace that fell like feathers on the top of my head. Skies would part, clouds would scud away, and I was able to receive. One thing I discovered and regularly did was to wing open a small vertical window in the kitchen of our house on Cascadia Avenue at night and breathe in the heavy, moisture-laden air.

Standing there, nose pitched forward — and in spite of schoolwork or blemishes or panic at my father’s latest dictum (pushing the Air Force Academy as my destiny, for example) — the dark night would waft in and infuse me with a micronic dose of healing. Brief. Spellbinding. The air — cool, wet and alive — delivered an experience not easily ignored or resisted, not even by a snarky teen. In the freshness of the air, I felt deeply and unequivocally hopeful and free and was able to push everything else on my plate gently to the side.

This year, much has been written about the power of incorporating awe into our lives with respect to happiness and mental health and even physical health. As with other trending health practices, there is a micro version, which provides the raw materials for better habit building, in the long run. Start small and build upon it: micro faith, micro joy, micro breaks and workouts, micro rituals.

Micro awe, like the other micros, is a free practice and can take as little as 30-90 seconds a day, its most beneficial effects delivered, however, through that regular practice or constructed habit. It requires no special tools, no app, no location or travel time, no particular skill unless one is jaded beyond recognition, spoiled rotten, or taking everything in life for granted, at which point, what can be said? For those with atrophied awe muscles, may a moment of grace come and the sooner the better. May the feather fall and may you feel it land.

How does awe work? There is research suggesting it activates important brain regions like the prefrontal cortex, anterior cingulate cortex and insula and triggers dopamine release. These regions have to do with better executive function, emotional regulation and awareness. It is no surprise that encouraging the state of being in awe decreases time in self-involved rumination, which could be considered its polar opposite.

Though we may think of the practice of being in awe as a spiritual practice, it is currently being taught in schools and in professional development, as well as on mindfulness platforms simply because it enhances our fundamental experience of life and brings gratitude along for the ride. It helps us be happier and better humans.

We can access awe through the natural world (as most of us dearly know), through creativity, through connection, through the five senses, as well as release of the five senses, through being utterly present and seeing with fresh eyes, through any intentional micro pause.

Noticing the grooved lines on the palm of a hand, or a golden blade of grass caught in the wind. Letting the light of the stars bathe our upturned eyeballs for the thousandth time. These are our portals.

We all have our personal favorites in the world of awe and ah. Some of mine are probably the same as some of yours. Quaking aspens; hummingbirds dive bombing; the cherry-cola smell of ponderosa pines; watching my sleeping dog; the taste of a pickle; car windows that actually crank down; exposure to weather; art I love but cannot explain; smells that never get old, like lemon, vanilla, cucumber, coffee and roses; the infinite variety of god-rays; the first light of the sun; an open kitchen window first thing in the morning (still works for me).

So, stop and notice something, like a child. Take a micro break to appreciate any of the billions and billions of fascinating details that planet Earth offers. Because wonderment is a muscle worth working and strengthening and most easily accessible through the present moment.. Your body, brain and attitude will love you for it.