wonder, beauty and awe akin to curiosity in creative ACQUISITION

“where our attention goes energy flows”

Two elements of my creative practice that I’ve severely neglected over the past months is reading and writing. Previously, I had been oscillating between three books from the library. Books I’ve had on loan since the end of last year, resulting in overdue loans. One of the books is titled “Your Brain on Art”, exploring neural plasticity and the state of play, in the disciplines of both the arts and sciences. It has been scientifically founded that states of play trigger dendrites in the brain to form new neural networks. These networks are formed through states of awe, wonder and beauty. Quoting, “Your Brain on Art”, “wonder is a complex feeling that creates a heightened state of consciousness its akin to curiosity, but it is more expansive on scope and joy. Wonder has been defined in scientific literature as our innate desire to understand the world, seeding our curiosity”.

Wonder is often attributed to a childlike state in which acquisition of the external world is awakened, it is in an imperative theme to learning. In scientific literature, beauty is said to trigger wonder, through sensitivity and is unfolded by secure attachment. When wonder, beauty, sensitivity and secure attachment are present, learning is meaningful ( L'Ecuyer C. The Wonder Approach to learning). In Psychology there is a triangle that represents retention of external stimulus, its named the “Trifecta Cog Responses”, it relates to thoughts and feelings, more broadly to learning attention and memory. During periods of input and output the hippocampus is the part of the brain that is foundational in laying down new memories.

Awe is another feeling that aids the rewiring of the brain and our connectedness to others. The neurochemical released during states of awe helps shape human perception in relation to one another, and is said to have a transcendent quality. In 2018, Beau and team researched the effect of live performance, Cirque du Soleil on audiences brain with 76% accuracy it was established that the crowd was experiencing awe in relation to the performance, and that awe resulted in less need for self-regulation, and higher tolerance for uncertainty.

With that being said these three feelings can be viewed as significant contributors to the succession of rewiring the brain, particularly correlative to cognition in learning and memory, which is triggered through “childish” play. The arts and the sciences can work cohesively with one another to achieve altered states of consciousness, awareness and perception, akin to the generic saying, “where our attention goes energy flows”.