Seek Awe
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Every Christmas since my daughter was two, we’ve taken her to the @nationalballet performance of “The Nutcracker”.
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I like to pretend that it’s for her enjoyment.
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But truly, I get way more out of it than she does.
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It doesn’t matter how many times I’ve seen it.
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The Waltz of the Snowflakes makes me weep uncontrollably. Every. Single. Time.
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Full on ugly cry.
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The tears start rolling when the Snow Queen delicately makes her entrance onto the stage. Tiny paper snowflakes float from the ceiling. The music swells.
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Then the children’s choir starts singing and HEAVEN HELP ME. I’m instantly a mess.
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My heart feels like it’s going to burst from my chest.
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It’s more beauty than my feeble human brain can comprehend.
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This is the experience of awe.
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Watching these incredible artists dance with such mastery, wearing costumes created by such visionary designers, in front of scenery so intricate, in time with gifted musicians playing an arrangement written CENTURIES ago, culminating in a once-in-a-lifetime, never to be experienced again moment, well...
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It cracks my heart wide open.
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It’s more than just a ballet for me.
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It’s an experience that adds meaning to my life.
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It reminds me that magic is real.
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That humans are capable of miracles.
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That my life has a purpose.
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This is not hyperbole.
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Scientific data backs it up.
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In 2007, a study involving 50 undergrad students and a T-Rex skeleton proved that awe causes us to understand that we are an integral part of a greater whole.
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And yet, we tend to think of “awesome” things as just “fun”. As unnecessary or frivolous or mere luxury.
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Awe is not just “fun”.
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It’s critical to our life purpose.
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Whether through Music. Dance. Art. Nature. Sport. Science.
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Use awe as your compass.
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Seek awe with the fervour of a life-saving medicine.
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Seek awe like air and water.
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Follow where it leads.
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And never doubt its infinite power to connect you to who you truly are..