Appreciation of Beauty & Excellence

Appreciation of Beauty and Excellence [awe, wonder, elevation]: Noticing and appreciating beauty, excellence, and/or skilled performance in various domains of life, from nature to art to mathematics to science to everyday experience. Personified for example by Walt Whitman   (Source: VIA Institute)

The Noel Strengths Academy defines it this way:

  • Lives with a sense of awe 
  • Notices beauty wherever it may be found 
  • Appreciates excellence across the domains of life including the arts, math, science, etc. 
  • Has a sense of awareness when in nature 
  • Pursues wonder in everyday experience 

Yes, strengths can be overused…or underused

  • Underuse: Oblivion
  • Overuse: Perfection

Key Research:

  • Rank order of Appreciate of Beauty and Excellence in populations from:
    • US : 15;
    • European:  14
    • Asia: 11
    • Latin America: 16
    • Sub-Saharan Africa: 13
    • Middle east: 15
  • Among 226 employees, the strengths under the virtue of transcendence – hope, humor, gratitude, and spirituality (not appreciation of beauty/excellence) – had a direct positive relationship with a calling work orientation (Gorjian, 2006).

Tayyab Rashid and Afroze Anjum offer 340 Ways to Use VIA Character Strengths including these four for Appreciation of Beauty and Excellence:

  1. Listen to a piece of music or watch a film and evaluate how it touches you aesthetically. Note patterns of aspects that you particularly appreciate.
  2. Visit a museum, pick a piece of art, and consider how it touches you aesthetically. Hang a reproduction of the artwork on your wall or place it on your desk.
  3. Explore expressions of beauty in different cultures. Are there cross-cultural similarities? What might account for differences?
  4. Notice and admire excellence of someone’s character strengths. Appreciate them as a whole person with unique aspects.

The Biological Advantage of Being Awestruck – by @JasonSilva from Jason Silva on Vimeo.

Jason Silva has an awesome (pardon the pun) video on Awe. The ideas of psychologist Nicholas Humphrey who has written of “THE BIOLOGICAL ADVANTAGE OF BEING AWESTRUCK”. Basically, our ability to awe was biologically selected for by evolution because it imbues our lives with sense of cosmic significance that has resulted in a species that works harder not just to survive but to flourish and thrive…

Nature’s beauty can be fleeting — but not through Louie Schwartzberg’s lens. His stunning time-lapse photography, accompanied by powerful words from Benedictine monk Brother David Steindl-Rast, serves as a meditation on being grateful for every day.

A story, a work of art, a face, a designed object — how do we tell that something is beautiful? And why does it matter so much to us? Designer Richard Seymour explores our response to beauty and the surprising power of objects that exhibit it.

José Antonio Abreu is the charismatic founder of a youth orchestra system that has transformed thousands of kids’ lives in Venezuela. He shares his amazing story and unveils a TED Prize wish that could have a big impact in the US and beyond.

Distinguished Visiting Professor David Cooperrider talks about Appreciative Inquiry and the power of strength-based leadership.

Podcasts to feed your Appreciation of Beauty and Excellence

  • The Art of Excellence is an in-depth interview-style podcast about people who have accomplished great things in their lives. The goal of the show is to deliver inspiring stories from ultra-successful entrepreneurs, athletes, entertainers, authors, thought leaders and anyone doing something extraordinary. We will explore the backgrounds, talent, work ethic, sacrifices, mental outlook and serendipity that led to their success.
  • Finding Mastery Dr. Michael Gervais is excited to decode the many paths toward mastery and provide applied practices that we can all use to be and do more in our lives.
  • Tim Ferriss is a self-experimenter and bestselling author, best known for The 4-Hour Workweek, which has been translated into 40+ languages. Newsweek calls him “the world’s best human guinea pig,” and The New York Times calls him “a cross between Jack Welch and a Buddhist monk.” In this show, he deconstructs world-class performers from eclectic areas (investing, chess, pro sports, etc.), digging deep to find the tools, tactics, and tricks that listeners can use.

Meditation for Appreciating Beauty and Excellence

Read more on meditation and kindness:

 

 

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