by Katia Petersen
Personal Reflection
Amid the noise and complexity of our era, awe restores proportion. This experience becomes a contemplative doorway into humility, gratitude, and reverence for life’s mystery. Whether encountered in nature, though music, silence, or relationship, awe reconnects us to the vastness from which we came and to which we belong. In cultivating awe, we strengthen resilience and remember that even in times of crisis and challenges, beauty remains.
Introduction
Awe is the experience of encountering something vast—something that stretches our usual frame of reference and gently rearranges our sense of self. Experiencing awe is often overlooked as an essential aspect of Spiritual Eldering. Awe invites us into moments of pure magic—through nature, beauty, creativity, or human connection—that soften the boundaries of the self and expand our sense of meaning. Research and lived wisdom alike show that awe strengthens compassion, resilience, and belonging. In later life, awe becomes less about seeking the extraordinary and more about learning to notice what has always been present, reminding us that we are part of something larger and still becoming.
Awe in the Language of Spiritual Eldering
In the practice of Spiritual Eldering, awe becomes a quiet but profound teacher. It softens the edges of ego and loosens identities that have grown rigid over time. Those roles and labels that once helped us function, no longer tell the whole truth of who we are at this stage of our lives. Awe gently expands our perspective, moving us beyond fear, urgency, or scarcity, reminding us that life is larger, more mysterious, and more generous than any single chapter we have lived so far. Through awe, we are reconnected to meaning—not as an abstract idea, but as a lived experience. It restores a sense of belonging, to the earth, to one another, to the long arc of life itself. Awe helps us re-author our story beyond cultural narratives of productivity, decline, or usefulness, inviting us instead into a wider understanding of purpose that continues to unfold with age. Awe whispers a simple but powerful truth: you are part of something larger—and that larger story includes you.
For Sages (Elders) and Seekers alike, awe does not require extraordinary experiences. It often arrives through encounters that are already woven into daily life. It may emerge while standing beneath a wide sky, listening to the ocean, walking among trees, or noticing the turning of the seasons. It may arise through music, art, poetry, or moments of creative expression that open the heart. Awe is often present at life’s thresholds—birth and death, endings and beginnings—where certainty gives way to reverence. It can also be felt in acts of courage, kindness, or forgiveness, or in moments when we pause long enough to remember our life as a whole, not just as a series of tasks or events. In this way, awe becomes a companion through complexity. It helps us release regret without bypassing truth, allowing us to hold our lives honestly while softening self-judgment. Awe teaches us how to carry grief and gratitude together, without needing to resolve the tension between them. It strengthens our sense of continuity across generations, helping us recognize ourselves as both inheritors and stewards of wisdom. Perhaps awe helps us feel at home in not knowing—resting in mystery rather than rushing toward certainty.
Cultivating Awe as a Daily Practice
Cultivating awe as a daily practice does not require much time or effort. It begins with small acts of attention: a brief pause, each day to notice what touches your heart, what stirs within you, a walk taken without destination or agenda; listening to a piece of music as if it were a form of prayer. Awe, can also be awakened by recalling moments from our life story that once filled us with wonder, or by sitting quietly with a simple question such as, What still amazes me? Over time, these small practices strengthen our capacity for reverence and perspective. They help us meet the world—and ourselves—with greater presence, humility, and compassion. In the journey of Spiritual Eldering, awe is not an escape from the realities of aging or a denial of loss. It is a way of standing fully within life as it is, while remaining open to the vastness that surrounds and sustains us. Awe, in this sense, is something we grow into.
Awe as the Beginning of Wisdom
For Abraham Joshua Heschel, awe is not a fleeting emotion. It is the foundation of wisdom itself. He shares that before we analyze, decide, or act, awe invites us to pause in reverence, and opens us to the mystery of being. Awe, in this sense, is about recognizing the depth of life that exceeds our understanding. As we age, awe becomes a teacher of humility. It helps us loosen our grip on certainty and control, inviting us into ethical presence and spiritual maturity. Awe reminds us that wisdom begins not with answers, but with inquiry and wonder.
Experiencing Awe Across the Lifespan
From an early age, I was taught to notice the extraordinary woven into ordinary life and to pause long enough to realize that Awe was not something rare or distant; it lived in sunrise over my grandparents’ farm, in the quiet glow of sunsets before dinner, in the miracle of springtime growth, in the vast power of the ocean, and in the sacred arrival of a newborn child. I learned that wonder was always present, waiting for attention.
One of my earliest memories of awe comes from when I was about seven years old, visiting my grandparents. I was chasing butterflies through the milkweed fields, frustrated they would not stop flying so I could see them up close. My grandmother suggested that instead of running after them, I sit very still and quiet and perhaps the butterflies would come to me. I settled into the grass and waited. Before long, two butterflies landed softly on me and I held my breath as I studied the intricate colors of their wings, their fragile beauty, before they flew away. I felt something awaken inside me at that moment. A sense of magic beyond words. My grandmother smiled and said these special moments are always there for us to experience, if we slow down enough to notice.
Perhaps this is part of what elderhood invites us into. The deepening capacity to stand still longenough for wonder to land gently upon us.
Katia Petersen PhD, is the President of Petersen Argo Inc. an organization focusing on Transformational Leadership. Over the years she has played leadership roles with several organizations that promote human and environmental wellbeing, bringing to her work decades of experience as a psychotherapist, educator, author, mentor, and activist. Most recently, Katia has served as co-creator of Sage-ing International’s new soon-to-be-released, practice-filled Spiritual Eldering Guidebook, which will be highlighted in the Summer issue of this journal. Katia can be reached at katia.petersen57@gmail.com Tel. 415-902-6851
