A Year of Radical Amazement

A recurring feature of my newsletter is the “Moment of Awe.” It’s easy in these times — and certainly in this past year — to lose ourselves in the midst of endless conflict and despair. But our capacity for wonder is always there to help us regain perspective and connect more deeply both with ourselves and with something larger than ourselves. It’s something Norman Lear, who died in December at 101, was a master of. As his family put it in their announcement, “Norman lived a life in awe of the world around him. He marveled at his cup of coffee every morning, the shape of the tree outside his window, and the sounds of beautiful music.”

It's about nurturing our sense of what Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, one of the leading Jewish theologians of the 20th century, called “radical amazement.” As he put it, “All we have is a sense of awe and radical amazement in the face of a mystery that staggers our ability to sense it.” 

So as we say goodbye to 2023, here’s a look back at some of my favorite moments of wonder and awe:

November brought this haunting image of trees seemingly trudging up a mountain — one of the photos that won Blake Randall the Photographer of the Year award in the Natural Landscape Photography Awards. As we enter the new year, it’s a beautiful reminder that nature is alive even in the frozen depths of winter.

Photo: Blake Randall

October, as it does every year, gave us a spectacular show here on terra firma. As Albert Camus wrote, autumn is “a second spring when every leaf’s a flower.”

Photo: Aaron P / Bauer-Griffin / GC Images / Getty

September gave us the aptly named “Grand Cosmic Fireworks” by Angel An, one of the winners of Royal Museums Greenwich Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition. The fireworks are actually a form of lightning high in the atmosphere called sprites (they really do exist!).

Photo: Angel An

August gave us the rare spectacle of two supermoons — when the full moon coincides with the moon’s closest approach to Earth in its orbit, making it appear larger and brighter. Here was one rising over the ancient temple of Poseidon on Cape Sounion in Greece.

Photo: Aris Messinis/AFP via Getty Images

While the world debates deep fakes and AI, June brought a great reminder of the magic and wonder that only humans can make. San Francisco area artist Damon Belanger plays with shadows — and our expectations — to create these small moments of wonder. You can see more of his work here.

Artwork: Damon Belanger

May brought “Manhattanhenge” — one day every May and one day in July, when Manhattan’s street grid aligns perfectly with the setting sun (a New York City nod to Stonehenge). It’s a magical moment when New Yorkers look up from their phones to experience a shared moment of wonder.

Photo: Gary Hershorn / Getty Images

And proving that New York isn’t the only city that can align the worldly and the heavenly, here is an image captured the same month by photographer Stefano Zanarello in the City of Light.

Photo: Stefano Zanarello / Instagram

March brought cherry blossom season — one of my favorite times of the year and the most beautiful marker of spring. And even the heavens got in on the act, with NASA releasing this image taken by the Webb Space Telescope showing the rarely seen phase of a dying star before its rebirth as a supernova.

Photos: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Webb ERO Production Team; National Mall NPS / Twitter

February saw the escape of Flaco, the Eurasian eagle-owl who became a bona fide New York celebrity when he escaped from the Central Park Zoo. After spending most of the year in Central Park, in November, Flaco, perhaps wanting a hipper downtown lifestyle, was spotted in the East Village. As David Lei, a wildlife photographer who specializes in owls (including Flaco), put it, “I was worried to see Flaco in the East Village. But part of celebrating his freedom and pursuit of happiness is understanding that he is writing his own story now.” In other words, he’s doing what all New Yorkers do.

Photo: Manhattan Bird Alert / Twitter

January would have marked my mother Elli's 101st birthday. There’s been nobody in my life who exemplified radical amazement more than my mother, especially with her motto: “don’t miss the moment.” And she never did, living fully in the moment even on the very last day of her life, which remains one of the most transcendent and wonder-filled experiences of my own life. You can read my account of that day here.

So, goodbye 2023! I’m wishing you and your family, as well as health and joy, a year filled with moments of wonder, awe and radical amazement in 2024.

Best,