Awe

1. The massive pillar of stone towered above the surrounding plains.  The rock was streaked with deep, wide lines running that ran up it.  Around the pillar, giant boulders lay piled upon each other, the remnants of an ancient volcano.  This amazing natural woder, Devil's Tower, stood outlined by a clear blue sky.  Every aspect of it inspired awe in the onlookers, from its impressive form to its auspicious name.  There is nothing like it on Earth.

2. There are many factors that contribute to making something awe-inspiring.  First, it needs to be so strange, good looking, or well made that it can lead to feelings of near disbelief.  Also, it must be unique, whether it is an object, experience, or idea.  And finally, it needs to provoke further and deeper thought.  Something's uniqueness and quality must come together to create the strange mix of disbelief and near meditative thought that is awe.

3. While wonderment and awe are often paired together, they are not completely synonymous terms.  Perople can wonder without feeling the sense of greater importantce that is associated with awe.  A person can wonder where they left there car keys, but that doesn't mean they are in awe of the mystery of their dissapearing keys.  When people wonder about complex, important thoughts and marvel at strange happenings, they begin to feel awe.  A sense of wonderment is simply a component of awe.

4. This morning I had to return my grandpa's car.  I use it when he doesn't need it for work.  On the drive to my grandparent's house, on a route that I take all the time, I noticed a tree for the first time.  It stood directly acriss the street from my neighborhood.  It was massive, and its leafless branches twisted and spiraled out.  It seemed so simple, yet it was incredibly complex.  I was in awe of it for the rest of the drive.

5. Awe is defined by Robert Pluchik as a combination of fear and suprise.  While this may work as a basic definition, I don't think it comes close to truly capturing what awe is.  While awe in itself feels like a combination of the feelings of suprise and fear, it, is not felt when a person is both suprised and scared.  I believe a more accurate definition of awe would be to consider it as a feeling a genuine admiration for something that is uniquely meaningful.

6. Great works of art often fill people with awe.  What needs to be discovered about this, is why?  What is so compelling about a few strokes of paint?  It is the way that artists are able to somehow completely convey their feelings at the time they were painting.  The great amout of talent and intellect required to do this astounds most people, if they spend time thinking about it.  It is the realization that making a piece of are is such a complex task, and that each piece of art is somehow able to convey different emotions that creates the sensation of awe.