Why the sense of wonder is beneficial and how to recover it

Current research in the field of psychology shows that wonder is one of the positive emotions that correlate with well-being and human flourishing.

Albert Einstein already predicted it: “One cannot help but be amazed when contemplating the mysteries of eternity, of life, of the marvelous structure of reality. It is enough to try to understand a little bit of this mystery each day; never lose that sacred curiosity.”

What happens when we are amazed?

Researcher Barbara Fredrickson, from the University of North Carolina, affirms that awe is related to inspiration, explaining that we feel awe when we come across “the good on a grand scale”, when we feel awed by the great.

Nature can amaze us for example, the vastness of the ocean or the perfection of a beehive. Human nature can also amaze us when we contemplate its best face: when looking at cave paintings painted thousands of years ago, or when a surgeon can successfully operate on the heart of a fetus that is still in the mother’s womb to correct a wrong condition. congenital.

Barbara Fredrickson, author of Positive life (Editorial Standard), also explains that wonder makes us stop for a moment and we feel small and humble knowing that we are part of something much bigger than ourselves.

Therefore, wonder, along with gratitude and inspiration, They are considered by psychologists as transcendent emotions, that is, they lead us to see beyond our own self, to feel part of divine creation, or of nature, or of a nation, or of humanity…

What can produce this effect?

The American professors Dacher Keltner and Jonathan Haidt discovered in a joint study that amazement includes both the sensation of vastness – the enormousness of a mountain or the celestial vault, for example – and “placement”.

This means that sometimes the magnitude of what we witness does not “fit” in our mental structures and we need to expand or change them. This challenge can cause us temporary confusion or disorientation, but also a feeling of “rebirth” or even “enlightenment” when a new, expanded understanding of the world or of ourselves arrives.

Keltner and Haidt have observed that having experiences of wonder have a profound impact on people, motivating them to be better, more altruistic, and devoted to their fellow man.

Although the feeling of wonder is mainly associated with “huge” things, like a shower of shooting stars, and special events, like seeing an athlete break an Olympic record, let’s not forget that Little things can amaze us too. from the perfection of a spider’s web to the perfectly orchestrated functioning of our own body.

It is not difficult to be amazed at the great, but sometimes we forget to see, hear, smell and feel our world carefully day by day, which is also full of opportunities to amaze us.

Another source of wonder that often goes unexplored is that of the people around us. We think that someone is an “ordinary” or even boring person, but if we talk to them, if we are interested in their stories and experiences, we can find surprises about what they have done, what they know, their qualities or their talents. .

One day I found out that one of my co-workers is going to donate a kidney to someone who is not a close relative. I was amazed at his loving generosity. Another day I found out that the taxi driver who usually takes me to the office is a musician and plays in a rock band, as well as being a plumber, carpenter and electrician. I was amazed at its versatility.

Ritual to cultivate the capacity for wonder

As with all other positive emotions, we can not only enjoy the moments of wonder in our lives, but also we can cultivate daily wonder. David Pollay, executive director of the IPPA (International Positive Psychology Association), has written about a ritual of wonder which he has been doing daily for more than twelve years.

start the day approaching the window, open the curtain and look outside. Start by notice the things in the environment that catch his attention and he lets himself be carried away by that fascination. Wherever he is, David Pollay always find something worthy of awe that reminds him that the world is much bigger than him and his problems. She puts it very well: “Every time I look out the window, I realize that the universe does not revolve around me it includes me.”

Now it’s your turn: if you could design a personal ritual of awe, what would you do? What helps you connect with the vast and wonderful world? When do you tend to feel in awe? Can you deliberately include these experiences in the day? What if a whole family, or a work group, or a school, started the day, like David Pollay, with a dose of wonder? I invite you to take the test.