Awe \ˈȯ | Noun

1. an emotion variously combining dread, veneration, and wonder that is inspired by authority or by the sacred or sublime.
   1. Archaic
      1. dread, terror
   2. the power to inspire dread

Awe \ˈȯ | Transitive Verb

2. to inspire or fill with awe.

Awe is a response to a multitude of stimuli albeit it: threat, excitement, beauty, appreciation of ability, appreciation of virtue, or even those inexplicable supernatural experiences. There’re many things that can leave us awestruck, both good and bad. Watching the rains cascade down a desert mountain careening into a spontaneous stream of life, to watching your coworker put their foot in their mouth for the umpteenth time in response to something your supervisor said, awe can be found hiding throughout everyday occurrences. Our responses to these circumstances and our prior histories create a unique feeling of awe depending on the situation; because of the vast spectrum of emotions awe covers it is quite similar to mystified, excitement, surprise, and even terror. Both “awesome,” and “awful” find their roots in “awe.”

Awe is often referred to as the sensation of being in the presence of something vast that simultaneously transcends one’s understanding of the world: a state of being that straddles the boundary of pleasure and fear. In this context, vastness refers to the grandeur in which the perceived events, people, or phenomena are larger than one’s self—whereas transcending one’s understanding refers to expanding one’s mental structures and belief systems beyond their normal boundaries and begins to assimilate experience which cannot be comprehended.

To be in the presence of something that truly captivates our thoughts, minds, and spirits is to be in awe. This happens more time than we would like to imagine, and for that, we should appreciate the power which it holds, because again both that which is truly “awesome,” and “awful,” are housed in this emotion.