A Million Seeds of Joy | 01 AWE

There's AWE in the pause... even on a day like this.

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Well, this seems an odd day to kick off a series on joy.

That’s why I am lingering over the keys at 10:21 PM, trying to corral my notes and thoughts that feel more like skittish cats than fully formed concepts.

But maybe this is the most perfect time of all to write these things and send them your way.

My school notes looked like this too.

If you haven’t heard the news, this has been a day with more gun violence in separate incidents, one at a school in the same county near Denver, CO, where Columbine happened, and one at a political event, where a prominent MAGA activist was shot and killed.

The conversation online is raw and, in some ways, devolving. I happened to see the video of the latter incident. It will be with me for a very long time.

I am deeply concerned this will lead to greater escalation. Violence only becomes the seed for more violence. To quote what is attributed to Gandhi, “An eye for an eye and the whole world goes blind.”

May we be those who plant the seeds that lead to wholeness. And may our conversation here be part of that happening.

Let’s just start with the truth. Joy is hecka vulnerable.

Brené Brown talks about the idea that “joy is the most vulnerable emotion,” according to her research on shame and vulnerability. 

She explains that experiencing joy requires us to open up to happiness, which inherently means opening up to the possibility of pain, loss, or disappointment. 

When we feel joy, we become afraid we’ll get “blindsided by disaster or disappointment.”¹

So in planting a joy garden, I’m basically inviting you to plant a garden of vulnerability.

But vulnerable is courageous. And joy is more than an emotion. It is a courageous choice in the face of deep uncertainty.

The ten practices we talk about in this series. They are like seeds.

It’s not like if we plant one practice, it will grow up to guarantee joy. Any more than if you plant spinach, it will grow up to guarantee you an award-winning chef salad.

The seeds we talk about planting are practices that each contribute to building an overall capacity and ecosystem of joy in our lives.

So let’s dive in.

Practice 01: AWE

Awe doesn’t just live in Grand Canyon adventures. It lives in intentional micro-moments we find in our everyday world.

While awe is often associated with vastness, it can also be experienced when we pause long enough to let a small detail change our perspective.

There’s awe in the pause.

Whether it’s standing beneath redwood giants, watching a sunrise, or hearing a profound story, awe is the moment our sense of self recedes, opening us into connection with something larger.

Awe isn’t just an abstract concept. It is observable and the subject of a growing field of scientific inquiry. Awe produces measurable changes, even at physiological levels.

Scientific studies have found that awe:

• Increases vagal nerve tone (helping you handle stress more effectively and calming your nervous system)

• Decreases inflammatory markers in the blood.

• Offers a clearer sense of personal meaning

• Creates better social connection with others

• Increases oxytocin (the hormone that helps us feel relationally connected.)

• Increases generosity

• Lowers anxiety and helps with PTSD

• Promotes better sleep, cardiovascular health, and longevity.²

Brief, intentional encounters with beauty, wonder, or vastness in the small things around us can trigger the same beneficial cascades.

Ways to Plant Micro-Awe

• Zoom in: Use a magnifying glass or macro lens to explore detail in ordinary things.

• Slow down: Often I will go out with a camera and find 2-3 things to capture. But I won’t just take a picture; I’ll really study the colors and the texture. My goal is to slow my breath and my pace to see the beauty hiding all around me.

• Focus Your Gaze: The more we practice looking for details and letting them become the doorways into experiencing awe, the more we will find them everywhere.

Recent research across 25 cultures found that people frequently experience awe through:

• Encounters with other people’s courage and kindness

• Nature

• Collective gatherings (dance, rituals, and ceremonies)

• Music

• Visual art

• Religious and spiritual pratice

• Personal epiphanies

• Birth and death³

Our Prompt

What is one way you experience awe in your everyday life? How can you use that as a springboard for finding new moments of awe around you?

If you are comfortable doing so, please share in the comments. Your story or AHA moment could be a doorway into awe for someone else!

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Here is our series’ page so you can find all the posts in case you need to find them in one place.

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I’m so grateful you are here. And I can’t wait to read your experiences and thoughts.

You are loved,

1. https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/why_experiencing_joy_and_pain_in_a_group_is_so_powerful#:~:text=It%20takes%20courage%20to%20open,blindsided%20by%20disaster%20or%20disappointment.

2. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10018061/pdf/10.1177_17456916221094856.pdf

3. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10018061/pdf/10.1177_17456916221094856.pdf