Why am I doing this podcast anyway? Peek behind the curtain of my motivations in this short episode. Hint: because it’s fun, and because awe and wonder are good for us and for society.
Listen on Podbean:
Listen on YouTube:
Resources:
Dacher Keltner’s website, with info about his book Awe: The Transformative Power of Everyday Wonder
Music: Jens East — Daybreak (ft. Henk) www.soundcloud.com/jenseast
Licence: Creative Commons Attribution V4.0
Transcription (remember, this is a direct transcription of what I said and is not actually how I write!):
Welcome to 9 Minutes of Wonder. I’m Betsy Hedberg. I hope this podcast will help you rekindle your sense of wonder for this awe-inspiring world. If you like what you hear in the next few minutes, please subscribe and share.
Hi, welcome back. This is my 19th episode of this podcast, and I hope you’re enjoying it so far.
Today, I want to take a step back from the specifics and talk about the big picture of what I’m doing here. Like, why am I even bothering to do this podcast and to make, hopefully, a lot more than 19 episodes?
So, I’ve been thinking about how to talk about this, and really, let’s face it, this is a time with lots of anxiety, and I know a lot of people who are worried about the direction that things are going in the world. I don’t think I need to say a whole lot about that right now, and that’s not what I’m here for today. But if you can relate to that in any way, this podcast is for you.
By creating these episodes about wonder-inspiring topics, I’m not simply trying to distract you from the challenging things that are going on out there or to pretend that they’re not happening, but I’m just setting them aside for nine minutes.
So, here are four reasons why I’m doing this podcast, besides that I think it’s fun and I’m really enjoying it:
Reason #1 is that a sense of wonder and awe has been scientifically shown to be good for us and for society. Really, there are social scientists studying this phenomenon.
So, what are awe and wonder anyway? They’re a feeling of connectedness, of expansiveness, or vastness, even when we contemplate the small things. Maybe you can think of some examples straightaway.
The best-known awe scientist is named Dacher Keltner. He’s a University of California, Berkeley psychologist who wrote the book called Awe, The Transformative Power of Everyday Wonder. And I highly recommend this book. It’s really very interesting.
In his book, he talks about the eight wonders of life, as he calls them. Those eight wonders are: the strength, courage, and kindness of others; collective movement and actions like dance and sports; nature; music; art and visual design, which includes architecture; mystical encounters; encountering life and death; and big ideas or epiphanies.
Again, maybe you can think of some examples that you’ve experienced in your life that could fall into any of these categories, or maybe more than one category at the same time.
So, how do these experiences help us and help society? Dacher Keltner writes, “How does awe transform us? By quieting the nagging, self-critical, overbearing, status-conscious voice of our self or ego, and empowering us to collaborate, to open our minds to wonders, and to see the deep patterns of life.” So, these are some things he’s learned from his research, not just from speculation. It’s not just like an essay. He’s actually citing his research that he’s done at the university.
So, I wonder what would happen if more people could quiet their self-critical and status-conscious sides and notice patterns and collaborate, as he says is possible. And, honestly, I can think of some prominent people who could stand to develop the art of self-criticism. But most of us need to quiet that part of our minds that can beat ourselves up and stop us from moving forward with the good things that we want to do, right?
And scientific research has also shown that cultivating awe increases pro-social behavior, ethical decision-making, and generosity, and decreases a sense of entitlement.
Cultivating awe and wonder also increases resilience in the face of challenging circumstances. Does this sound like something you might need these days? I need that. So, in general, what Dacher Keltner and other awe researchers have discovered sounds like what I need more of in my life. And in this podcast, I’m hoping to inspire some of that in you, if you agree that that can be helpful for you.
The second reason that I’m doing this podcast is that many of the topics I cover are about natural wonders or about people doing kind things for animals or for other people, like the episode I did about the little kitten named Wyatt. And I hope these stories can make you feel good and maybe even help you think of good things you can do or ways you can connect with your natural world.
The third reason is maybe you know — like I do, this isn’t just about you, this is stuff that I need to work on — but a lot of us could stand to get off this social media wagon and take some breaks, bring some wonder into our lives, and not be looking at, you know, not be scrolling down the social media feeds quite so much. This is something I’m actively working on, by the way.
I mean, what generally makes you feel better? Scrolling down Facebook or Instagram or the news, or contemplating a sunset, an eclipse, or even a tree outside your window, or even a peanut in your kitchen, right? If you’re tired, like me, of the fact that rich tech moguls and similar people are trying to control your minds with nonsense, like irrelevant information, ads, telling you to go shopping, and all sorts of political BS, and endless social comparisons, and argumentative social media conversations, then maybe this can be an opportunity to get back to some sort of connection with what feels real in life, like nature, and the people who matter to you, and the tangible objects around you, and the planet in general. Those are all real, and at least for me, it’s helpful for me to keep that in mind and to connect with those real things in the world.
And reason number four is because a distraction can be really good. So if you’re worried about anything, getting your mind on something else for a few minutes is not a bad thing. And if this podcast is nothing more than an interesting nine-minute distraction, that’s fine too. And talking to you right now is distracting me from other things I could be doing that I don’t want to do, or other things I could be thinking about that I don’t want to think about right now.
I’ll say a few more things about what I’m doing here. One of the main founders of the modern mindfulness movement, Jon Kabat-Zinn, defines mindfulness as “paying attention on purpose, in the present moment, non-judgmentally.” And these podcast episodes are clearly not traditional mindfulness practices at all. They’re just me talking for nine minutes or so, filling your mind with ideas and information. But they’re intended to help you be more mindful and pay more attention to some of the things around you, and maybe even find some wonder and awe in them, and in other things that you encounter in your life.
As you may have already noticed, the episodes are not always intended to make you feel good, and they will not always be relaxing. So I sometimes talk about topics that you might find unpleasant, like swarms of locusts. Somebody told me she didn’t want to listen to that one because it was too disturbing. So, sorry! Sometimes I’ll go to places that are not super feel-good, but even things we don’t like can create wonder, and that’s kind of the point with those topics.
I’m sure you won’t find each topic equally interesting, but I invite you to keep an open mind. Maybe there’s one thing from each episode that intrigues you, even if you’re not really into sports or remote places or whatever else I choose to talk about that day.
So I’m feeling like this is one small thing I can control and do and be active with, so I hope it might help someone in some way, maybe you. And again, I’m enjoying this, so I hope you’ll continue to listen and will enjoy listening. I’ll talk to you soon.