From ‘Aww’ to awe
Over the Thanksgiving weekend, when my grandsons needed a break from all the wrestling and rough-housing, my daughters plunked them down in front of the television and put on a show called “Too Cute.” The show is nothing but hours and hours of video of kittens and puppies. Kittens and puppies playing. Kittens and puppies nursing. Kittens and puppies doing all the adorable things that kittens and puppies do.
As the three boys sat and watched “Too Cute,” I heard them exclaim, over and over again, “Aww.” The grownups who took a break from the leaf-raking and the pie-baking had the same reaction to these cute and cuddly critters. “Aww.” “Aww” seems to be our natural human response to puppies and kittens and infants and their antics. Biologists and psychologists have studied this “cuteness-response” and found that it’s a universal human reaction that includes relaxation of the muscles, lowering of blood pressure, and a general sense of calm and wellbeing. It’s that “warm and fuzzy” feeling we sometimes talk about.
It’s a season of warm and fuzzy feelings. Sitting by the fire in our comfy slippers. Lighting candles in the dark. Huddling under a blanket for warmth. Enjoying the glow of Christmas lights and Hanukkah candles. Maybe we even have a puppy or a kitten to snuggle with. Warm and fuzzy is what gets us through the winter, the long nights and the cold, crisp days when the sun barely has the strength to climb over the horizon. Feelings of “Aww” help connect us to beauty, to joy, to life itself – especially new life. It’s important that we seek out opportunities for “Aww” whenever we can, if only for the temporary healing and comforting powers they have.
And it’s also important that we not stop at “Aww,” but that we seek out experiences of “Awe” as well. That we move beyond the cute and the cuddly and the warm and the fuzzy. Because “Awe” – that feeling of being somehow overwhelmed, moved to tears, the breath catching in our throats – is an essential human experience, too. We are, after all, in the season of miracles and wonder. A small bit of oil that lights a sacred lamp for 8 days. The sun returning to warm the land. Hope embodied by a baby born in poverty and simplicity. While “Aww” experiences make us feel good in the moment, experiences of “Awe” echo and reverberate in a deeper, more lasting way. Some call us into deeper connection with the earth, the sky, the stars. Others call us to question our very place in the universe. “Aww” experiences speak to our hearts, while “Awe” experiences speak to our souls.
Unlike the warm and fuzzy feelings we get with “Aww,” a sense of awe quickens our pulse, raises our blood pressure, gives us a feeling of being overwhelmed. That sense of wonder and astonishment can be disorienting and dislocating. It can shift our entire perspective. While “Aww” experiences are comforting, “Awe” experiences can be disruptive and life-changing. Awe moves us to tears and moves us to wonder and moves us to embrace the mystery of our very being, of our very lives.
And, so, as we celebrate this season of mystery and wonder, let us all seek out both experiences of “Aww” and experiences of “Awe.” May we find comfort in the former, and may we find meaning, purpose, and a place for ourselves among the stars with the latter. And may we come to realize that, just like those stars, we too, can shine.
“As we celebrate this season of mystery and wonder, let us all seek out both experiences of ‘Aww’ and experiences of ‘Awe.’”
— Rev. Peter Friedrichs