What does it mean to be in awe? My grade six teacher once told me that using the word ‘awesome’ to describe everything is taking the root word ‘awe’ for granted. Apparently, not everything in life is worthy of being awesome. Sorry ma'am, but I disagree. Everything can be awesome if you give it enough attention. Think about a trash can. It’s just a trash can? Wrong. Take a good look at it and see just how awesome it is. Wonder about the plastic they used and why they chose that specific colour. What machine created it and how did an evolved, talking monkey ever figure out how to make it? Before trash cans were invented, trash would be thrown out of windows and buried in holes. Don’t take trash cans for granted. Trash cans are awesome. Human innovation is awesome.

But what does it mean to be in awe? What does it feel like? Being in awe feels like nothing words could describe. Language is not good enough. Language comes short when attempting to describe the intangible. Awe is intangible.

Children are always in awe, they’re filled with eternal wonder. Yet, as we grow older we become used to the marvellous and mistakenly deem it banal, developing a film over our eyes which desaturates the world. Not me. I’m a mature child. I wish I could slurp up the Milky Way galaxy with a loopy straw. My mind is eighteen years old but I see the world with eight-year-old eyes. I allow my inner child to thrive within me and I wish everyone would do the same. Experience the world as if it’s your first day here. What does a potato chip taste like? What does your favourite song sound like? How does rain feel when it hits your face? Savour the little details and become mad in love with the earth. Believe the crickets serenade you and the rivers flow for you.

We live our lives half-conscious. Being in awe awakens you fully. When you allow yourself to be in awe, suddenly, everything cliché makes perfect sense. The grass is greener and the sun feels warmer. You’ll want to hug the universe even though it won’t hug you back.

Let’s marvel at the awesomeness of a trash can. Let us be in awe.