The Awe Factor

How soaking up the beauty in life helps us to remain present for inspiration and creativity

BY MICHAEL SIGMANN

Remember the last time something stunning took your breath away. A fiery red sky at the break of dawn. An intimate glance from a perfect stranger. That yummy sensation we get looking at a beautiful body. Instantly your heart skips a beat, your attention is fixed, and your mind is totally silent! You’re in awe!

Granted, the beauty had something to do with it, but on a deeper level what happened is that you became present. For a split second there were no thoughts entering your mind, which is the only way you could experience the beauty you saw. This is what is referred to as the “awe factor.”

The “awe” is the response you had because you were truly present. The “factor,” to be without thought, is what was needed for you to be present so you could feel the awe arise within you. Yet the instant a thought enters your mind a separation occurs between you and what you’re looking at. The experience is lost, the awe factor disappears and you are no longer present.

You can only experience the awe factor when you are truly present, which only happens when there are no thoughts entering your mind. So if you want to feel inspired you need to be present. As long as you’re thinking about life you have no chance of ever being in awe of it, and here’s why.

If you are someone whose experience of life is based on what you think, then on some level you rely on your thoughts to make you feel good. But thoughts are not always reliable. The present moment is. Either way, thoughts, left unchecked, can wreak havoc on your sense of wellbeing.

Until you take the time to be present so you can see when a thought arises and why, you can’t really know if there is any truth to what your thoughts are telling you. Only when the mind is silent can you observe if what your thoughts are telling you is true or not.

Because thought patterns become hardwired into the brain through repetition, what you experience when a thought arises doesn’t necessarily mean it has merit. Thoughts exist because you allow them to exist. Then you end up spending most of your time trying to control what isn’t real to begin with. Which is the main reason why you are not present. The more you allow thoughts to happen, the more they keep you from being present.

So if you are someone who can’t quiet the mind, even for a few moments, then you might experience anxiousness, confusion, or even depression. It might be helpful for you to know that when you become present you are no longer identified with your mind and your obsession to control it.

This isn’t to say that your mind doesn’t have its place— it does! But the experience that occurs when you are truly present, the peace and contentment you feel when thoughts are not in the way, cannot be achieved by your thoughts.

When you are present, not only do you see that your capacity to be present is the source of your happiness, you also see that the loving kindness that you aspire to feel in the world is exactly what you can feel when you are present.

Being present, without thought, is the only way you can be truly nourished by the things you know and love, the only way a truer sense of health and wellbeing can arise, and the only way a natural acceptance for what is can begin to fill you with awe.

While you’re present your search for happiness is over. All practice—whether it’s yoga, prayer, meditation, even making money, drinking alcohol and doing drugs for that matter—everything you do in life, begins to align for one purpose and one purpose only, which is to be present.

Only when you are present can a complete shift occur from engaging in an activity to satisfy an obsession to engaging in that same activity to strengthen your ability to remain present. If it doesn’t serve the happiness you feel when you are present, it will fall away—it’s inevitable!

Remember, the awe factor, which can only be felt when you’re present isn’t going to come and find you. You must learn how to quiet your thoughts in order to meet the present moment where it is: here, now. Now that’s something to be in awe about!

Michael Sigmann is the founder and facilitator for Men’s Inner Journey workshops and retreats in Los Angeles, Palm Springs, Sacramento, San Francisco, and Seattle. To locate and register for a workshop, visit www.mensinnerjourney.org