ABOUT

In the first summer of the pandemic, dear friends introduced my son Leal and me to the wonderful world of mushroom hunting. They were newcomers to the hobby and we joined them on the journey. This was an activity you could do unmasked in the safety of the outdoors, and somehow the fear of accidentally consuming a deadly mushroom seemed less terrifying than this unknown virus that loomed on our periphery.

 

I will always think with great love and fondness of our hikes and subsequent mushroom feasts from that strange summer. The apricot smell of black trumpets, the vibrant orange of the chanterelles, the softness of a lion's mane, and the delectable bite of a fried chicken of the woods filled our days with curiosity and wonder.

 

We had every reason to be paralyzed with fear and depressed into a stupor in those months. Not only was the pandemic raging and thousands of people were dying each day, but the previous November my son, Leal's brother, Oliver died suddenly and unexpectedly at just 8 years old. Nobody would have begrudged us for spending that first pandemic year under covers. But early on in our grief journey, it became clear that the way we would survive was not by hiding from the world. Rather, our hearts found their way back to beating the more we forced ourselves into it.

 

It turns out that when you are having trouble breathing through the weight of your loss, foraging for awe can be an incredible inhaler. The gasp as you discover a stunning tower of bright orange and yellow mushrooms weaving up a decaying tree is just the thing for refilling those lungs.

 

I did not know this then, but there is science to back up that finding. In his book “Awe: The New Science of Everyday Wonder and How It Can Transform Your Life,” Dacher Keltner, a psychologist at the University of California, notes that experiencing awe has scientifically proven benefits to our health and overall well-being. These benefits include calming down our nervous system, helping us deal with stress, and building feelings of trust and belonging.

 

So this blog is a space where I hope to forage for awe with you. One little idea, a suggestion for where to look, smell, listen, taste, or feel will be embedded in each post and I hope you will share what you find.

 

Mushroom hunters are notoriously secretive about their discoveries - but here we forage in the open because awe is an endlessly renewable resource. Keltner describes one surefire way to find awe as the "collective effervescence" of shared experience. And that is what I hope we can create. What happens when we forage for awe together? Let's find out.

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With Love and Anticipation, 

Jenna Fournel