Inspired by "Awe"

Back in the fall, we spoke to Dr. Dacher Keltner about  the experience of being awestruck and the link between the feeling of awe and a sense of the sacred - being connected to something larger than yourself.  

Awe has two key components. One is you're in the presence of something that is vast and transcends the usual human scale.  And the second thing is that awe experiences tend to challenge our understanding of the world. They present things that are beyond our current knowledge structures and ways of looking at things.- Dacher Keltner on Tapestry

That conversation resonated with many of our listeners.  We invited you to write us and share your stories of awesome experiences.

Here are a few of those letters.

Suzanne writes from the Yukon:

"My undeniable awesome moment happened in a sweat lodge … as part of a criminology class. This was 25 years ago, when the invitation came to attend an Easter ceremony at the local minimum-security jail.  

Something powerful shifted in there - I left knowing my marriage was over, that I would not have much support and that everything would be ok.  I can report that life now is rich beyond measure."

A listener named Adele sent us this story:

"I was especially interested in how awe can change people in small or big ways.

This might explain a change in me.

I spent two weeks hiking in the Annapurna range in the Himalayas three years ago. It was an incredible experience, challenging me physically and mentally.

A few weeks after I returned, I saw a garter snake. My first thought was a feeling of empathy toward the snake and then a calm appraisal of its colour and appearance. Then I suddenly realized I had completely lost my phobia of snakes. My normal reaction would have been complete repulsion and an intense urge to flee. I could not even touch a picture of a snake without feeling repulsed.

Could this have resulted from my sense of awe during my hike?  I have always wondered how I lost my phobia. I saw no snakes in Nepal. Nothing else different had happened in my life. It had to be Nepal.''

Valerie writes from Burlington, Ontario:

"About 15 years ago, my nephew and I went dog-sledding in a rural community north of Quebec City.  It was on a brilliant and rare sunny day in February with a very crisp temperature of about -25 degrees.

The dog sledding adventure was 2 hours of sheer exhilaration.  It was truly an awesome experience being out in the wilderness, with the sound of the dogs yipping and the sled runners whooshing through the snow.    

When we returned to home-base, we saw a compound for the dogs. There must have been 100+ shelters.  All of the dogs were barking and leaping.   Without any prompting, one dog suddenly lay down beside her shelter and stopped barking.  What immediately followed was truly awesome …. without exception, every dog stopped barking and they too all lay down.  A calmness and stillness was soon upon us.  To have witnessed this gave me goosebumps and a chill down my spine."

Thanks to all of you who sent letters.  We love hearing from you.

You can write to us about anything you hear on the show: tapestry@cbc.ca