Everyday Awe
“The power of imagination has no limits, it can change everything. But it needs cultivation. In many ways we’re doing the opposite. We don’t give much attention or time to imagination in schools, universities, companies, organizations, not even in our spare time, packed as it is with screens and competitiveness.”
Can we make nourishing strategies for that which is not hell? Where do we start?
By The Empty Square
Photo: Naraa .in .ub /Unsplash
If Italo Calvino is right, and the only two ways to escape the hell of the living is by either accepting and contributing to it – or learning to recognize and nourish who and what, in the midst of hell, are not hell – then what?
Can we make nourishing strategies for that which is not hell? Where do we start?
Getting into the Christmas spirit, we take the following three notions as our points of reference: 1. Imagination, 2. Compassion, and 3. Awe.
First, imagination. Mandatory to escaping the hell of the living is the ability to imagine a better future. That’s according to Rob Hopkins, author and co-founder of the Transition Town movement.*
The power of imagination has no limits, it can change everything. But it needs cultivation. In many ways we’re doing the opposite. We don’t give much attention or time to imagination in schools, universities, companies, organizations, not even in our spare time, packed as it is with screens and competitiveness.
Think about imagination as an essential skill, fundamental to a person’s capacity to function in society – yet often perceived as messy, unpredictable, and unprofitable. That’s why suggesting National, Regional, Municipal, Corporate, and even Personal Imagination Strategies sounds a bit cheeky. We are encouraged to be creative and innovative (that’s where the money lies) but not imaginative. Not yet. We have to insist on it and create the optimal conditions for the imagination to flourish.
A requisite for that is places that are truly alive, making people feel safe, relaxed, welcome, hopeful, inspired, connected to one another and to nature – and not under surveillance or time pressure.
Then, compassion. According to urban developer/investor and author Jonathan F. P. Rose, the key elements of civilization are culture, connectivity, coherence, community, and compassion. “Caring for others is the gateway to wholeness for ourselves and for the society of which we are part […]. For a city to truly fulfill its potential, all those within it must share a common altruistic purpose, the betterment of the whole in which they live.”**
Rose refers to environmental scientist Donella Meadows and her reflection on how “the least obvious part of a system […] is often the most crucial determinant of its behavior.”
Following the thought, the level of compassion, one of the least obvious parts of a city, could be one of its most essential features. But what city has a Compassion Strategy?
Can we escape the hell of the living without it?
Finally, awe. Again, we look to Rob Hopkins, who writes: “Awe is an undervalued emotion […] – two key features define it: The first is a sense of vastness – whether vastness of space, time, beauty, understanding or connection – that makes us feel smaller and experience a dissolution of the self. The other is the need to adjust our understanding of the world, in order to accommodate the experience, or at least try to.”
“Experiencing awe can shift people from self-interest to collective interest”, bringing about “boosts in generosity, ethical behaviour, altruism and compassion”. It can “improve our health” and “stimulate wonder and curiosity”. Hopkins refers to Dacher Keltner, a professor of psychology at University of California, who argues, “that given the degree to which awe triggers people thinking more collectively, more compassionately and more pro-socially, we should ‘build everyday awe’ as much as possible.” ***
What about an Awe Strategy that builds everyday awe into the places we live?
Calvino’s main character is probably right. It’s the common acceptance that is the actual catastrophe, not the following economic, social, biological etc. breakdowns. The quiet, blind, passive acceptance, the least obvious part of the system, is the crucial determinant of the hell of the living.
We wish you an imaginative, compassionate, and awe full (not awful!) Christmas – and a New Year filled with Imagination, Compassion, and Awe Strategies – and moments that are not Hell!
* If you still haven’t read his book, From What Is to What If? (2019), we highly recommend that you do so soon.
** Just as highly, we recommend Rose’s excellent book: The Well-Tempered City (2016).
*** Hopkins, p. 167