Do we need a movement from Wowism to Enoughism?
Thoughts on finding enough is maybe enough
The first time I came across the term ‘wowism’ was by Jules Evans in his excellent writings on psychedelic experiences. He defines wowism as ‘an attitude or life philosophy where what really matters in life are Big Wow Moments’.
I highly recommend his newsletter here for his insights on wowism and much more on modern day mystical experiences. In reference to wowism, he goes on to say …..
“Before Romanticism, the value and the goal of mystical experiences was the deepening of one’s marriage to God, not the Big Wow of the wedding night. But after Romanticism, the experience became the end, the goal, even the God.
This is what wellness / New Age culture can sometimes be – the deification of Experience, above everything else – family, nation, planet, God. Just you on your own having your Big Wow Moment.”
Since coming across Jules’ work, I see ‘wowism’ everywhere. First, I identified where this turns up in my own life, even in relationships, which required some honest (and confronting) conversations with myself. Interestingly, during this process I noticed a growing disinterest and discomfort with Instagram.
Social media is to wowism what sugar is to a child and fuel to flames. Dosage doesn’t matter. Each time we open the app we step into a world where wowism is the language, currency and authoritative dictator all rolled into one. Scrolling from one peak moment to the next, we find our attention seduced into a world of the next most epic shot of the most awe-inspiring moment.
Inherent to wowism is a desire for more. A feeling that ‘it’s never enough’. I can’t help but wonder if every dopamine inducing hit of wowism is a step away from finding the contentment and awe inherent to enoughism?
Enoughism is my term for ‘an attitude or life philosophy where what really matters in life is connection, contentment, curiosity, compassion and awe found in the small moments shared with like-minded friends, family and/or our environment.’
Or as Jules Evans says about life “It’s not about the occasional firework. It’s about building a steady fire that warms your life for years.”
This article is not intended to demean wow moments entirely, nor discourage the pursuit of the highs we experience from activities that give us goosebumps and pump us full of energy, or those inspirational serendipities that remind us we are on the right path. These are all part of a life well lived and they most certainly are WOW! We need all of these!!
When these moments become the goal, rather than the outcome, is when wowism takes hold. When we promote and sell wow instead of connection or moments shared. When we avoid the smaller moments, not finding awe in our daily life, or being still in a place for long enough to appreciate the changing seasons, the leaves on the ground, but instead searching for more wow, more movement, more highs, more, more, more, more….
We’ve all read the quotes “travel is the only thing you can buy that makes you richer” or “buy experiences not things”. Full transparency, as a teenager I loved these quotes. They motivated me to move abroad at a young age and choose the road less travelled.
I believe the pendulum of ‘choose experiences’ has now swung a little too far. The idea of travelling to a viral location to have your ‘experience’, to display a wow moment, is literally killing culture, land, and country. It is ironically, killing the experience for everyone.
In some parts of Indonesia, Mexico, Polynesia, east Africa, and other low and middle-income countries, the impact of wowism and experiential consumption are having devastating impacts. Some examples:
stained cenote walls in Mexico as a result of cocaine seeping into the waters from the ‘natural health’ mecca that is Tulum.
tourists falling to their death from cliffs in Indonesia trying for the perfect selfie.
locals unable to access their own water ritual in Bali due to so many visitors seeing this ceremony as open equally to them.
game hunting in Africa is an abhorrent practice of wowism.
the waters off Cancun overcrowded with boats to swim with whale sharks that have obvious propeller injuries, and hundreds of people jumping on top of them every single day as they feed.
tiger shark attacks a diver in waters off Fiji where sharks are forced to navigate waters overcrowded with people seeking their wow moment.
You get the point. Wowism is everywhere. It may not be destroying the planet like fossil fuel companies, or billionaire tax evasion, but it certainly carries some responsibility. For those who have found themselves in any of the above situations, it’s undeniable that the insatiable desire for more wow is growing and impacting the planet in ways we are yet to fully realise.
The meta-crisis is upon us. It is not coming, it is here now. A cost-of-living crisis is impacting many, the compounding of both climate and economic crises disproportionately impacts those in developing economies. The wealthier percentage of people are mostly unaffected and can glide across the top of these crises in search for their next big wow. At whose expense?
So how do we make the practice of ‘enoughism’ as attractive as wowism? How do we show that ‘enough’ does not mean compromising on life, but rather, it is a deep seated, grounded sense of wonderment and awe with the smaller moments, the slower times. Stepping out each day with a deep respect for the crises of our time and our individual and collective role in addressing these.
Could a movement to enoughism be an invitation to be curious for the stories and tales of others? To get inquisitive about the relationship between the micro and macro within our environment? Could it reduce how much we demand from animals for our diet? Could it breed respect and compassion for the planet and all who share it? Is it a call for practicing greater solitude while responding to loneliness we see in those around us? Will it fine tune our sensitivity and nuance of connection with those we love and the environment we inhabit?
Could a movement away from wowism towards enoughism help with the crises of our times….?
Excellent piece - I really like the term "enoughism"!