The Awesome Power of… Awe!

Did you know that having your mind blown can be good for you – that the experience of being awestruck can actually boost your sense of well being? Well, according to the Here’s A Reminder Of Just How Awesome Our World Really Is article on Huff-Post Science…

In 2012, researchers at Stanford University showed that when people felt awestruck, they were more patient, more willing to be helpful, and reported feeling more satisfied with life.

“We think ‘awe’ is really about informing people of how to be members of social communities and that’s why a lot of the great awe experiences are experiences like listening to music or being part of a political rally or being part of a social collective,” Dr. Dacher Keltner, co-director of the Greater Good Science Center at the University of California, Berkeley, told The Huffington Post.

That’s not all. Arizona State University psychologist and awe expert Dr. Michelle Shiota co-authored a series of studies that suggest being awestruck might even make you think a little smarter.

“The experience of awe involves feeling very small and insignificant,” Shiota told The Huffington Post, “yet also connected to something much greater than the self.”

I’ll leave it to you to check out that article for the rest of the good news, but I will include this really cool video from it:

Of course, this reality of ours is chock full of things that blow my mind! Just check out this amazing video posted on the Twisted Sifter blog:

And this one from a link contained within it:

I don’t know about you, but I’m definitely feeling a LOT more satisfied with life right now! 🙂

I want ice water.

More from the Visual Treats volume