I like living a life in awe. I seek out things that will make me stop in my tracks and say, “Whoa! That’s amazing! How wonderful!” Living with my daughter gives me a reason to be in awe; she amazes me daily. And living with her and working with children enables me to live vicariously through their awe.

This past Independence Day, my daughter and I went to watch the town’s fireworks display. There were children sitting two spots over who, you’d guess, had never seen fireworks before. Had I closed my eyes, I’d’ve known everything that was going on, thanks to their commentating. “Wow! Did you see that?! Gold balls! Look at that! Whoa! That’s purple! *Gasp* A heart! Wow!” I got a bigger kick out of listening to their exclaims than seeing the fireworks themselves!

The words awesome and awful create another English language conundrum for me. If something, someplace, or someone is truly awe inspiring, couldn’t you say it’s awful? And if it’s cool, but not the best, then you’d say awesome? And how can the one word, awe, mean to produce feelings of fear and pleasure? I’m guessing something got lost in translation on its way from Greece to the Americas.

Maybe my understanding of things will catch on. In that case, I hope you all live Awe-full lives!