Awe

[BlueSugar]

I know this isn't a How To - but the GB is too fast and I live in this forum practically anyway...so, relocate the thread if its a must but ...

Where have you felt awed? Or had a sense of Awe when being in the particular place.

It could be places like the Great Wall of China, it could be some concert hall where "so and so the great played here." Bodies of water... An incredable Bdsm club where so and so did a scene. Some castle over seas, an Indian grave site with all its history... the grand canyon... you get the point.

mine?
Carnegie hall, while waiting to play, and knowing many many greats have sat on the stage.
I get this sence when taking the drive from NYC to VT, passing the buildings and their rich histories... and driving into the mountains, knowing some indian tribe had a home/names for everything I was passing before it became Rout4a and Birds Eye Mountain.

 

[Nakana007]

Well blue, I'm beginnin to live here too, so I won't complain. The greatest sense of awe I've ever gotten was at the Holocaust Museum in Washington D.C. It was so hauntingly real that I don't think anybody could go through that place and not feel it.

 

[Bobmi357]

That sense of awe often stems from confronting something that puts you in your place. Makes you realize that you're not the center of the universe, that you're just an average human being.

Things that have filled me with awe.....

Seeing the Orion Nebula.
Seeing the Rockies, and the European Alps.
Visiting St. Peters Basillica in Rome.
The first time I made love to my wife.

 

[midwestyankee]

Bobmi had it right; the awe comes from the recognition of your small place in the cosmos.

For me:

Seeing the northern lights when camping in northern New Hampshire;
The Viet Nam wall memorial in D.C.;
Walking through the "Air Force One" that carried JFK back from Dallas;
Visiting the Sixth Floor Museum in Dallas;
Seeing an Apollo capsule up close years after its safe return.
Meeting Jim Lovell.

 

[ExtacyCouple]

Ground Zero about a year after the attacks......

 

[Astro]

Behind the Niagra Falls
Ground Zero
The Devils Coach Road in the Mourne Mountians
Rain Forest at Dusk
The Bridge Over the River Kwai

 

[James G 5]

A small piece of angel food cake.

 

[Bobmi357]

Ground Zero about a year after the attacks......

Ground Zero. Just the mention of it gives me chills. It doesn't give me a sense of awe however, it only fuels a rage and anger that I still find difficult to control.

I haven't lived in NYC since 1994 when my wife decided she wanted to move back home to Idaho. Before that I was a pure bred NYC kid, born there, spent 35yrs there, lived, loved and worked there. I still root for the Yankees, I still talk with a New York City accent, I still consider it home.

From 1991 to earlier 1994, I worked and had an office in tower 2, the 76th floor. I was uptown on the day of the bombing in the early 90s, but the company I worked for ceased to exist on 9/11. Of the 30-40 or so people that I knew working in that building, four are dead, 2 of which have never been recovered, another one will be lucky to walk again, if ever. The whole 911 bit fills me with anger and frustration. I do not think I could ever return to one world plaza again. The pain of whats been lost and the frustration it causes runs too deep in me.

AWE? NO WAY, anger, outrage and a sinking feeling of being helpless in the face of mortal danger is all it gives me.

If you want awe, consider the heavens above you. Some night when its not too cold, turn out your lights, give yourself about 20-30 minutes for your eyes to really adjust to the darkness, then look upwards. Billions of stars, quasars, pulsars, white/brown/red/blue dwarfs. Nebulae by the thousands. The night sky is awash with a humbling beauty and magnificence. It all floats above us, a promise of great adventure and a reminder that we really are just small cogs on a insignificant planet in the backwaters of an unremarkable galaxy. It makes you reconsider yourself, and God. Which is a lot more than I can say for anything mankind has done.

 

[DuckLover]

Two occassions really stand out for me.

1) Standing in the middle of Red Square, looking at the Kremlin.

It was fall of 2000. I was struck by the realization that 20 years earlier I would have been arrested on sight, 30 years earlier I might well have been shot on sight. Then came the significance of the location's power. This spot was the center of America's paranoia for decades, the site of numerous brutal interrogations and executions, and the symbol of everything America opposed. And now it is a tourist destination in a friendly country. It really made me stop and ponder. (It's a beautiful place, btw; I strongly recommend a visit if you can.)

2) Chimney Pond on Mt. Katahdin in Baxter State Park, Maine.

After 5 miles of hiking through the deciduous forest, I suddenly emerged into a sun-drenched meadow surrounding the crystal-clear pond. Rising up thousands of feet behind it was the awe-inspiring majesty of the upper reaches of Mt. Katahdin. The scene was literally sublime. I was stunned. I just collapsed onto a rock and stared for several minutes. Amazing.

 

[deepstare]

Once

I've been to a few places where I just stopped breathing and stared in wonder. One was a small field in the Northeast. It was freezing, we're talking 0 degrees, and there was no snow. There was just ice. Every single blade of grass, every one of them, was sheathed in a layer of clear ice. The sun shined brightly, barely warming the skin. The blades each reflected the sun's light in its own separate way, like the light existed for only one blade at a time. It was like a field of glittering diamonds...I wish I had a picture of that but I'll always remember it.

 

[English Lady]

Old Trafford. Manchester united's football ground. I went once for a special songs of praise when I was about 16 and when I walked out onto the stands I literally gasped in awe at the sheer size and turn out of christians for the event.


Awe often hits when I have a special revelation of God. A small musty church in Nelson near burnley, a field in the middle of nowhere in Norfolk, a house in merseyside run by catholics for young people,a church in Germany. I cannot remember exactly where but I remember the feeling as I walked into it. Awe is the only way to describe that feeling.


I am often in awe...but then I am only a small part of this big,big ,BIG universe!

 

[ShyGuy68]

For me two places comes to mind.

The first place was around 5 years ago when I were in Ireland for the first time, and we went to the west coast of Ireland, and the Cliffs Of Moher http://kennl.dk/shakes/ireland.htm. It was amazing too stand on the edge of the cliff's and look straight down, seeing how small a human is compared to nature.

The second place was when I went to Niagara in May this year, and went out on a ride with the maid of the mist http://kennl.dk/pictures/usa/motm/index.htm. The view and sound of the water coming down from a 188 feet fall is simply amazing. I've never before experienced the sound 60000 - 75000 gallons of water per second make.

Nature is indeed amazing

 

[Carnus]

The most extreme Awe I have ever felt.

A few years ago (around 10 now) a friend and I took a camping trip through the central (west central mainly) United States. We camped one night in the Tetons just north of Jackson Hole WY. We were east of the Tetons and still west of another large range as well. I woke up early and watched the sky slowly lighten as I made a fire and started some coffee cooking. I was looking at the Teton mountains, seeing the glaciers in the dim light just as the sun topped the mountains behind me. For the next few minutes I watched as the sun lit the ice covered peaks with a white brilliance that looked as if God had lit a beacon for the world to see. It was by far the most impressive sight in nature I have ever seen. There I sat cold from the night air, sipping coffee to hot to really enjoy and watched as another day began, hearing the birds begin to chirp and seeing that line of light move slowly down those mountains was the start of one of the most perfect mornings I think I have ever or will ever see.

Carnus

 

[Allison484]

1995, just outside Silverton Colorado on top of a mountain, we pulled over at a rest area at just dusky dark. Sat around and talked a little bit. It began to get cooler, so we pulled out the hooded sweatshirts...Texans are so wimpy about cold weather. Then, when it was good and dark, we laid down on our backs on top of picnic tables at the rest area and just looked at the stars. I swear they were close enough to just reach up and touch. I saw the Milky Way...the MILKY WAY! I had never before in my life seen the Milky Way. It was the most beautiful sight I have ever seen and will never forget it.

Allison

 

[fgarvb1]

Everywhere and always. Sometimes I think I see or am aware of more than most people.

 

[MagicFingers]

The Grand Canyon

The first time I saw the Grand Canyon, words just can't describe its majesty.
I remember thinking that one of the Beatles (Probably Ringo) would probably say, "It's really Grand." in their own inimitable way.

Seeing my first son born and holding him as he looked around with curiosity, seemingly saying, "Where am I?"

Tornados
Earthquakes
People who are NOT disfunctional

And Blue, I like to hang around here too.
Did anyone ever tell you you look like Allison Hanigan?

 

[AnelizeDarkEyes]

I have been blessed to live all over this country, and experience the grandeur of many places. Some of them that have filled me with awe are these:

Standing under the bowl of the night sky in Eagle River, Alaska one Christmas eve, as the northern lights filled the entire sky from one side to the other. It was simply breathtaking, green curtains of light, wavering with a touch of purple every now and then. I held my then 3 year old daughter bundled in my arms in a down comforter in the -20 cold for some 5 minutes to watch them. I will NEVER forget it.

The Vietnam Wall Memorial, and The Nurses Memorial in DC

The Matanuksa Glacier, Alaska.

New Mexico. I lived for 2 years in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Almost to a one, the sunsets there knocked my socks off. Blazing colors, with the mountains in stark black relief. I miss it.

Things that have filled me with awe:

Holding and nursing my daughter for the first time

Hurricanes--the sheer power of the ones I lived through never failed to awe me (even though the scared the hell out of me too)

Becoming and living sober. This one awes me everyday, and probably will continue to, even though I've been doing it for some years now. It's quite a gift.

Nice thread. Thanks for posting it.

~anelize

 

[Bobmi357]

1995, just outside Silverton Colorado on top of a mountain, we pulled over at a rest area at just dusky dark. Sat around and talked a little bit. It began to get cooler, so we pulled out the hooded sweatshirts...Texans are so wimpy about cold weather. Then, when it was good and dark, we laid down on our backs on top of picnic tables at the rest area and just looked at the stars. I swear they were close enough to just reach up and touch. I saw the Milky Way...the MILKY WAY! I had never before in my life seen the Milky Way. It was the most beautiful sight I have ever seen and will never forget it.

Allison

Yup, one of the prime advantages of living in the sticks. The nite sky is fabulous.

 

[BlueSugar]

deepstare: I've learned that pictures, in those situations... do absolutely no justice.

fgarvb1: sort of, one of the main ideas that made me post this thread. Also, we are usually awed by natural events all the skys, mountains, rivers, stars ya'll are talking about ... and yet we don't take good enough care of the world around us. And there are people who just... don't care to take a breather out of their metropolitin lifestyles to just go out and appreciate the views.

MagicFingers : nope you're my first :: blush::

Allison484 : my thoughts exactly after I got out of damned nyc !!

AnelizeDarkEyes: You are most welcome, tell your friends !


Spread the word of this thread, I think it is wonderful for people to sit back and bring back these memories. I know when I did, I had the most tranquil hour of my life, since the memory
Thank you all for sharing your experiences

 

[Bystander]

lots and lots of times..sometimes its not even something big.

Once I stood and stared at a small fountain for 15 minutes just watching the water soar in the air and then explode into tiny droplets and trickle away as it hit the ground.

My all time fave though was probably when I went camping the first time. We were going to zion national park in utah from CA and stopped the first night in some deserted filed. When I got out of the car and started stretching I looked up and I saw like a million billion trillion stars. I don't think I'd ever seen that many stars b4 in my entire life. The whole sky was glittering and it was just beautiful.

 

[jeepman6]

Seeing the birth of our children. Most awesome thing for me ever.

 

[Scarlett_t2]

the awe I feel to get up every morning and with my husband and my girls. Awe the first time you child says they love you. I too lived in Alaska and the first time I saw the northern lights, was like angels dancing on the mountain tops. I am in awe every time I stand up and place my hand over my heart to say the pledge to my country...I know how lucky I am...I am in awe of just life.

S

 

[Carnus]

Best awe sound I have ever heard.

My best friend called me a 4 in the morning as his wife was having their first child, he lay the phone beside the fetal monitor and I could hear the heartbeat as the boy was born, the sounds of his first cry and the sound of my best friends voice choking as he told his wife how wonderful he looked.

Carnus

 

[SexyGiggles]

Awe? I'm not sure if that's quite the word, but here's a few...

-- seeing the entire AIDS quilt displayed for the last time at the Washington Mall, because it would soon be too big to display in one place.

-- visiting the holocaust museum for the first time.

-- standing in the middle of North Pole, Alaska, days after Christmas, looking at the stars and freezing my butt off as I realized it was 60 below zero.

-- seeing survivors pulled from beneath the smushed freeway four days after an earthquake.

-- watching the A's win their 20th game in a row (I know, I'm a baseball freak...)

-- seeing a six year old boy running around excited about the hair that was finally growing on his head following a long round of chemo.

-- laying atop a houseboat on Lake Powell watching shooting stars at a rate of more than one a minute.

*sigh* sometimes I miss the clear skies....ah, the foggy city life I have now....

 

[BTK51]

Actually, lots of times. The beauty of nature and the historical significance had a lot to do with it. Some that have already been mentioned that I totally agree with are The Grand Canyon, St. Peter's and Ground Zero. Yes, Bobmi, I do get filled with anger too. Being from NYC, working in lower Manhattan for many years, having been in the WTC for meeting several times and seeing the WTC for so many years, I am awed by how quickly everyone's lives were changed. Something we took for granted that would always be there, was gone in a matter of hours, reduced to rubble and the horror of all those lives lost. The awe of how powerless we all were when pitted against such an evil deed.

Some not mentioned are:

Any time I'm out on the ocean or at the beach just staring at the water. The beauty and power of nature and man's futility at trying to tame or conquer it. The courage that it took for man (and woman) to try and sail this huge expanse, not knowing what they would find, what weather they would face and when they would return.