The Night of the Two Sunsets

E169: How does awe spark imagination?

Awe and Wonder

What is an experience of awe that breaks your framing?

This question has hung with me all week, ever since Garrett “Scooter” Oyama asked it during his podcast interview for episode 10 of A little slice of Awe and Wonder.

And I thought it may the perfect question for you on this cold, wintry weekend (or balmy spring evening if you are in the southern hemisphere).

Around [20:00] in the podcast, Garrett (who talks about Awe Design - what a great idea!) mentioned “encountering awe as a vast mystery that transcends your understanding. You feel this openness that breaks your framing,” based on the book Awe - The New Science of Everyday Wonder and How It Can Transform Your Life by UC Berkeley professor Dacher Keltner.

“You will never look at the world the same way again.” Once your mind encounters this phenomenon, it completely changes the way you frame the world. It explodes the range, boundaries and number of potential solutions you may now consider.

It brought back a memory of when my Dad and I climbed the hills in our village. From our perch on top of one of the peaks we watched the sun set into the Arabian Sea. Then, with a glint in his eye, Dad grabbed my hand and said “Run!” We chased it to another hilltop … and caught the sun once again falling over the edge of the horizon. Two sunsets? As a 10-year old, I was mind blown! It is my most visceral recollection of perspective.

It may explain why I am drawn to the vastness of nature and the universe in the context of challenging us to break our frames and think “beyond”.

The best idea can come from anyone, anywhere, at any time.

Our current range of solutions have not yet helped solve some major societal and climate challenges. If ever there was a moment when we need to supercharge our perspective and imagination so that we have new ideas it would be now. This could be the perfect moment to break the frames, embrace awe as a way to trigger the combo super-skills of humility, imagination and creativity. In that way, cultivating a sense of awe could be considered a core 21st-century skill.

Our conversation in this episode covers a lot of topics - the mental health crisis, parenting, Mars, climate, the impact of AI on jobs, the effect of social media on young people, the need to climb a tree.

And one topic that caught my attention [30:00] the phrase activation energy - I would like to explore this in future editions of our newsletter.

Fewer Words. More time to Listen:

Have a listen at 1.3x for yourself:

If you like this episode, I’d encourage to also listen to episode 8 where Scooter interviews

Vicky Zhao

(content creator, framework maven and host of the Da Vinci cafes). I got a fresh perspective via their conversation on how language can extend or constrain our thoughts “a tree” vs the hundred bits of eco-system information (leaves, bugs, roots, breeze, bark, owls) that is data compression into these four characters.

(Thank you for recommending me to Scooter as a guest, Vicky!)

My awe-filled fascination with sunrises, sunsets and sky-scapes (just count how often they appear as thumbnails on this substack) may have a loose association with my equal infatuation with making and breaking frameworks.

Did you know I do podcast interviews?

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Welcome to the many new members of Tribe Tilt !

You join a wonderful group that believes we can make a difference to the people and places that are precious to us, and that we have fun, hope and agency in our lives. We believe that the best ideas can come from anyone, anywhere, at any time. Please add your voice to our conversations.

Stay healthy. From there all else becomes possible.

Until next week …

Karena