Category: Appreciation

What Do You Find Awe-Inducing?

Louis Armstrong’s gravelly yet beautiful voice blessed a tune that recounts the beauty of earth-bound nature and the sacredness of the nighttime sky. The song is filled with awe, and includes some lines about babies who will grow and learn more than he’d ever know. And so, Louis “thought to [himself], what a wonderful world.”
Sometimes, we find it difficult to escape our rushed and patterned lives to witness the awe that surrounds us. But once in a while–heck, as often as you can–you would be wise to look around you and find reason to see that we live in a wonderful world.
As for me, one of the most magical things I see comes after a dandelion seed finds a crack in the cement and grows impressive roots and an above-ground stem and flower that some hate but others love. If you dislike dandelions, did you know that all parts of a dandelion are edible? The plant is a good source of vitamins A, C, K, and D, along with calcium, iron, magnesium, and potassium. How awesome is that! I am similarly amazed that a tiny cottonwood seed created the mammoth tree in my neighbor’s backyard.
Music also fascinates me. When experiencing the Sunday Scaries, I often don my headphones, open my music app, and randomize play from my 1,171 top-rated songs. While it’s cliché, music transports me to another place. It doesn’t matter the mood or subject of the tunes my app picks; I end the night in a better place than before notes hit my eardrums. There’s a scientific answer to this transportation: our brains release dopamine, a happiness-inducing chemical, when we listen to tunes. How lucky are we to have music in this world of ours!
I could go on with the things in the universe that captivate me. But I’d prefer to read your answers.
What do you find awe-inducing?

What Is The Most Interesting Thing About You?

Everybody has many things that are interesting about them. Of all of them, which one is most interesting about you?

It can be fun to think of all the various ways you are interesting. It might be an event that happened in your past, a physical characteristic, or even something about the people you know. Some people have an unusual name, a funny story about how they met their partner, or maybe they can do a “stupid human trick”.

There are many, many ways of being interesting.

Related: Listen to an episode of the Intellectual Roundtable Podcast, where Lee and Michael discuss this question: ‘What makes you you?’ We also discuss another question as well, ‘What gives a person value?’

Of course, the types of things that one finds interesting varies from person to person, so what may be interesting to one may not be interesting to another.

With that in mind, what is interesting about you? Do you think that other people can appreciate the ways in which you think you are unusual, or different, or funny? In general, do you think that other people find you interesting in the same way you find yourself interesting?

Related questions: What makes a person interesting? Who are your most interesting friends? What makes you you? What unusual habit do you have?

 

What Makes A Perfect Day?

If you can imagine in your mind a perfect day, what exactly would that mean? What are the necessary ingredients?

There are many things that can make a day nice, or pleasant, or even pretty great.

Maybe you wake up feeling particularly refreshed. Or the weather has lots of sun (or even rain, if that is what you prefer). Perhaps you get some good news, or some bit of luck comes your way.

However, what would make a day perfect? What are the components that would need to occur for a day to achieve that lofty adjective?

Related: Listen to an episode of the Intellectual Roundtable Podcast, where Lee and Michael discuss this question: ‘What is one thing you feel the need to do every day?’ We also discuss another question as well, ‘What is truth?’

Or is it the case that we don’t really know what goes into a really wonderful day? Can a day be full of surprises, and be perfect — or at least, fantastic — because of it?

Time spent with loved ones, lovely weather, doing a beloved hobby, helping someone in need, an extra hour in the day — what makes a perfect day?

Related questions: What could you do to gain an hour each day? What was your best day? What do you do with a day off work? Perfect or good enough?

 

Why Are We Sad When Someone We Don’t Know Dies?

When someone dies who had an impact on us — a beloved entertainer from our childhood, for example — we are sad, even though we don’t know the figure personally. But why should that be?

There is no doubt that there is an emotional reaction to the news of someone’s death. For people we know and interact with, that is understandable. That person’s place in our life is missing.

However, we also feel sadness for some we have never met. For instance, a musician who sang a particularly meaningful song, or an author who wrote a touchstone book.

But why? The meaningful part — the song, say, or the book — still exist. They are not being erased from the public consciousness, and in fact may gain some awareness from the creator’s death.

Is it that the person will no longer be creating anything that might move you similarly? Chances are, unless you are a completist, there is music from that artist you have never heard, or books by that author you have never read. There is still new material  — new to you, that is — to be discovered.

Perhaps it is general empathy. We are sad to hear of someone’s death. A life with value has come to an end, which is a cause for mourning.

And yet, people with value die every minute of every day. With eight billion people on the planet, we cannot mourn the passing of each and every one — we would live in a constant tsunami of sadness.

So why, then, are we affected by these individual deaths? Why are we not happy that the person existed in the first place, and created such impactful works of art? Why not take joy that our world can produce such people, who in turn create such meaning?

There is no doubt that we are saddened by the news of these passings. It seems obvious that the feelings exist. But is there a reason why? Why do we feel sad when someone we don’t know dies?

Related questions: Why are people afraid of death? What is the nature of celebrity? What makes you nostalgic? What are you sad about?