Wonder journal: notice what falls outside your usual routine

Awe journal: what is it about?

In psychology research, “awe” generally refers to an experience of something perceived as vast that calls for an adjustment in how we understand it. The Greater Good Science Center at Berkeley presents this definition and its nuances. The everyday word “wonder” can cover a broader range of experiences, including a pleasant, ordinary surprise.

For this journal, you can keep it simple: something interrupted the way you usually see things. The nature journal works for some observations, but nature isn’t the only place to start. Architecture, music, or how an object works can also spark new curiosity.

What research can help us distinguish

Research on awe uses a variety of situations and measures. It can’t promise that a journal will give everyone the same experience. Berkeley’s overview also points out that awe isn’t limited to pleasant emotions: a sense of vastness can come with unease. So you don’t have to seek intensity at all costs.

Our exercise doesn’t replicate a clinical protocol. It invites you to describe and reflect on an experience you choose. If you’d rather simply notice everyday pleasures, the little pleasures journal fits that intention. If you want to give thanks for help you received, the gratitude journal has a different purpose.

Start your awe journal with a scene

Describe before interpreting

Note what you actually noticed. “The branches cast very fine shadows on the wall” gives you more to work with than “nature is incredible.” You can add the place, the time, and one detail. The guide to describing a place through the senses helps you choose an accessible starting point.

You don’t need to use all your senses or stand still for a long time. Observing from a window may be enough. Keep your attention in line with what’s safe in your surroundings, especially near a road, water, or a busy place. The journal doesn’t require you to go anywhere unsafe to find a more impressive scene.

Naming what surprised you

Ask yourself what differed from what you expected. Was it a scale, a level of detail, a duration, or a contrast? Maybe you’d seen that tree often without noticing its shape. Maybe a very small work demanded more attention from you than a monument. This question makes the page personal without requiring a dramatic emotion.

A creative observation walk can multiply the opportunities, but you can also stay somewhere familiar. The goal isn’t to consume extraordinary experiences. It’s to notice what momentarily escapes the automatic way you see.

Keep a question open

After the description, write what you’d like to understand. How did this shape come about? Who made this object? What phenomenon produces this color? If you look for an answer later, separate what you observed from what the source explains. Your journal can hold questions without immediate answers.

The idea notebook helps you keep track of leads if there are many. Still, avoid turning every moment into a research assignment. You can let a question be. An experience doesn’t need a complete explanation to have been interesting.

Read alsoNew moon ritual: set your intentions for the month

Quiet awe and spectacular awe

A starry sky can bring an obvious shift in scale. A detail in an everyday object can create a subtler surprise. These experiences don’t need to be ranked. If you start looking for something more impressive every day, your journal could become a competition with your own previous pages.

You can alternate entries: nature, human creativity, an idea, a connection to a place. The film and exhibition journal offers a starting point for artworks. Consider noting the title and artist when you know them, rather than vaguely attributing your impression to “art” in general.

A possible page inspired by an ordinary trip

In a fictional scene, Élise waits at a tram stop. She notices that a building’s facade seems to change color as the clouds move. She notes the surface, the light, and the movement, then asks: “Is it the material or just the lighting?” She doesn’t conclude that she must now love all her commutes.

The next day, she doesn’t notice anything in particular. She leaves the journal closed. Later, she finds another surprise in a song or a drawing. Continuity comes from being able to return, not from a daily obligation. The one-sentence journal shows that a record can stay very short when you feel like writing.

The boundaries that keep the experience open

You don’t have to turn a difficult period into an opportunity for wonder. An interesting observation can coexist with a problem without resolving it. Also, avoid comparing yourself with accounts from people who describe very intense emotions. Your journal isn’t a sensitivity test or a measure of how open you are to the world.

If an experience makes you uncomfortable, stop the exercise or change your surroundings. Wonder doesn’t require seeking extreme sensations. A freewriting can hold a mixed impression, but you can also choose not to explore it on your own if it overwhelms you.

Reread without trying to build a perfect collection

After a few pages, notice which kinds of surprises keep returning. Maybe you’re drawn to changes in light, precise gestures, or structures. This observation can inspire a creative activity without becoming an obligation to start a project. A solo creative session can help you follow a thread further if you feel like it.

You can keep the pages in the order they happened, even if some are very simple. The journal reflects encounters between your attention and the world, not a list of the best moments. Its value may lie in a detail you might otherwise have overlooked.

You can devote a page to a made object: a seam, a frame or a visible mechanism. Describe what you understand about how it was made and what remains mysterious. If you want to learn about the work behind the object, look up its maker or process afterward using a reliable source. Wonder can then turn your attention to craftsmanship, without giving the object an invented history or forgetting the people who designed it.

For a complementary perspective, watch this video from ASU Department of Psychology.

Sources

• Greater Good Science Center, University of California, Berkeley. Awe: definition and overview of the research.