Moments of Awe

(clicking) (gentle music) (whispering) Headspace Studios. (birds chirping) (gentle music) Hi, dear friends (indistinct). Welcome to Radio Headspace. Thank you so much for joining me on this brand new Wednesday. When was the last time you were in awe of something, or you allowed your imagination to run wild and truly enjoyed being immersed in the wonder of what you were experiencing? I ask this question as I was really reminded of the importance of this quite recently. I was watching the show Prehistoric Planet, and as its title suggests, it's about life on earth with dinosaurs 66,000,000 years ago. And when I sat down to watch the first episode I was a little bit distracted. I was going over events from the day and fussing about things I hadn't done. But when I saw the first dinosaur displayed on the screen it got my attention. Not only were the special effects mind-blowing, but I was completely struck by this moment of total awe and wonderment. These gigantic creatures have so far dwarfed our existence on earth. We've been around a mere fraction of the time that they were. A drop in the ocean. Now, don't worry, I am not about to quit being a meditation teacher to take up paleontology, but this reminded me of what it felt like to experience a moment of awe and amazement. I was doing some research on awe, this powerful emotion that has the potential to expand our mind and our perspective, and I came across this definition by Dacher Keltner, who is a psychologist at the Greater Good Science Center at UC Berkeley. He says that awe is a feeling of being in the presence of vast things that you don't necessarily understand, or when you encounter vast mysteries in life. Interestingly, he also says that awe is not just about the big things in life. We can experience awe in many different and small ways, like witnessing a flower bloom or seeing someone help out a stranger who's in difficulty. And it got me thinking about the fact that we miss so many moments in life that are awe inspiring. Moments that fuel our creativity. They even prompt us to look at our own existence. And I think back to moments in my life when I've experienced awe and there is one thing in common, they provide moments of connection, whether it's with yourself, other people, or the planet itself. (gentle music) Music has provided me with so many moments of awe. I remember going to a concert to see a musician called Charles Bradley. He's sadly died now, but his story is remarkable. He spent many years living on the streets. And when he finally got some housing, he worked as a server in a bar. One evening some big producers from a record label came in and the person who was booked to perform didn't show up. So he asked the manager if he could stand in, and that...