Gratitude Sparked by Awe and Wonder

Autumn in the mountains means larches and hiking and blue skies.  The trails and highways are busy with people who are eager to spend time in Nature as they enjoy feelings of wonder and awe. I hope they find healthy doses of joy and gratitude too, before heading home feeling tired, inspired, rejuvenated and more resilient.

Nature Writer and Biologist Rachel Carson (1907 – 1964) has been inspiring me with this quote since I worked as Education Services co-ordinator with The Friends of Banff National Park (1998 – 2001):

If I had influence with the good fairy who is supposed to preside over the christening of all children I should ask that her gift to each child in the world be a sense of wonder so indestructible that it would last throughout life, as an unfailing antidote against the boredom and disenchantments of later years, the sterile preoccupation with things artificial, the alienation from the sources of our strength. 

Nature inspires wonder and awe. Attention to the science of awe has increased recently and reveals that awe is “the feeling of being in the presence of something vast that transcends our current understanding of the world” (Keltner, 2023). We feel awe when we are amazed at things outside of ourselves, over-riding our default negativity mode networks. When we are feeling wonder and awe, our self-focused ruminations take a break. Allowing ourselves to feel wonder creates space for feeling good about life. A mental shift towards wonder and awe, researchers argue, helps us feel less isolated and more connected to the world around us.

As Rachel Carson advised, over 60 years ago, awe is a source of strength and reconnects us to our life-affirming and essential truths.

We now realize that awe is also a neurological event that shifts our chemistry and our biology and our mood. Awe activates the prefrontal cortex, an area linked to perspective-taking and self-reflection. 

Wonder and awe, also open our pathways to feeling grateful, hopeful and more optimistic.

Gratitude is a complex psycho-social-cultural emotion, a character strength and a human virtue that affirms that there is good in the world. Over time, with practice and patience, gratitude becomes a way of seeing the world.

Gratitude is a life skill that sets us up for recognizing and appreciating the positive aspects of life, whether they stem from people, walks in Nature or small, everyday moments, like a caterpillar on a leaf. Gratitude is also a virtue that promotes both individual and communal well-being. It shifts our focus from what we lack to what we have, fostering a mindset of abundance and positivity, inspiring trust and opening the door to hope.

Studies have found that awe experiences can increase feelings of humility and openness, setting the stage for gratitude to take root. Communities grounded in gratitude are often more resilient, better equipped to handle collective challenges like economic strain or social division. This isn’t just speculation—studies done over time and through personal lived experience — show that gratitude, often sparked by wonder and awe, correlates with increased prosocial behaviour. This means that awe, wonder, gratitude can be shaken up to become a social cocktail that serves as an antidote to feelings disconnected, isolated, depressed. Awe is a kind of motivational energy that fuels a cycle of connection, appreciation and action. As we continue to grapple with polarization in 2025, fostering awe could be a subtle but potent way to rebuild trust.

Finding your reasons to be grateful is good for you as an individual; for you socially, across your relationships and benefits you spiritually. Many people who visit the mountains on Sunday report that they feel they have been touched in sacred ways. Nature restores balance. So does gratitude.

All this to say — Finding awe and savouring the experience with gratitude can open your heart to a world view with a fresh perspective. Wonder, awe, joy, gratitude can open the doors to seeing life as a miracle to be treasured. Wonder and awe open the doors to gratitude, the sunshine in your soul.