It’s Groundhog Day and Punxsutawney Phil has foretold another six weeks of winter.
Here in the mountains of the Mid-Atlantic, the winter can last well into the first weeks of Spring. Days linger in a gray gloom punctuated by bits of frosty flakes in constant rotation until the next bomb cyclone or Alberta clipper dumps its wintry cargo. As a child, winter held a place of purity and wonder in my memory. Those mornings etched in my mind are filled with magic when the discovery of a dazzling pearlescent canopy greeted me from outside my window as I hastily pulled aside the dark curtains. As an adult, the awe and mystery have worn thin. The work of winter – shoveling sidewalks, negotiating icy roads, braving the biting cold for milk and toilet paper, and solving for power outages or heating failures – is exhausting.
When the cold drives us inside, it can be challenging to stay the course with our resolutions for the new year. It is incredibly easy to pick up the remote and Netflix & Chill or dive down your preferred social media rabbit hole.
This is where the opportunity for a vibe check arises. This is where we can embrace the power (and science) of awe.
The New York Times published an interesting article last month, “How a Bit of Awe Can Improve Your Health.” Awe is the feeling of being in the presence of something vast that transcends your understanding of the world as described by Dacher Keltner, a psychologist at the University of California, Berkeley and one of the researchers profiled in the piece. It can be something as vast as the contemplation of the cosmos or as simple as a walk through the park. It is an emotion that can have a profound biological and psychological impact on our well-being. Awe is an experience that is equitable and accessible to everyone regardless of status, wealth, or privilege. We just need to pay attention, look around, and open ourselves to the moments of awe around us.
Personally, embracing awe is fundamental to my approach for 2023. Reducing screen and device time, getting off of social media, pursuing hands-on work in the studio, and building a feeling of connectedness to the real world are on-going goals that have no finish line or due date. It is a continued mindset for me to engage, to reflect, and to slow down.
So, as the month of February drags on with short days and long nights, it is an opportunity to reframe our thoughts and check our vibe. The first snowflakes that drift from that gray sky are silently beautiful. Because our humanity is not insulated from the world around us … rather, we are rooted to it.
