There are some moments in life in which a sudden self-awareness of happiness hits - a moment in which you step back from yourself and realize that, in that instant, everything is good. A feeling of your consciousness pulling away to make an emotional snapshot of that moment to care for and examine like one would a wounded bird or a nugget of gold.
While I don’t consider my life as a unhappy one, I only have a few of these moments guarded away. The first being at around age 6. My parents were giving me a group hug while we were all singing a family lullaby. My mother was expecting my baby brother at the time and that was the first time the baby’s name was included in the song. I remember feeling detached and floating away while taking in the moment.
The last time I experienced it I had just finished changing the sheets on a new king bed I splurged on after a small windfall. I remember laying on the bedspread and my 2yr old pup hopping on to play around the newly made bed. Instead of ushering him off as I usually did, I just watched him mess up the bedspread.
(I know happiness is not a fixed concept and everyone can have their own definition and experiences, but given my ignorance of the specific word to refer to the instant moment of self-awareness described, I just went with it)
Curious to read your thoughts and experiences.
Yesterday, on my bike, feeling the warm sun on my skin again after a long winter.
I know feeling the sun is pure bliss after a long winter. It’s astounding how universal this experience is, as if there’s a biological reason for it. One of the ways it’s amazing to me is that it’s a feeling you can imagine sharing with practically at some moment with every other human being in history. Regardless of their location, status, or moment in time; it’s a common part of humanity (possibly even with some types of animals).
Thank you for sharing.
Oh god yes!
I can’t wait for this feeling when it gets warmer.
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Thank you for sharing this beautiful moment.
I know it’s not the type of answer you’re looking for, but I felt a moment of communal joy reading your story and all the other replies here. Thanks for sharing and helping bring that out in others, op. Love you.
Today. I woke up.
Thank you for this.
I’d recommend reading The Power Of Now. Its actually life changing. If this book replaced all religions, I bet we would have close to a utopia overnight.
The premise is simple, and you highlighted it in your stories. There is nothing but the Now. Dwelling on the bad past is pain. The worry of the future is pain. There can be no joy in either. All you ever have is the Now.
It takes mind training to get into that mindset, but its truly freeing. There’s no sky daddy. No misogonyst racist preachers. Its just You, Life, and Now.
And I am not some hippy dippy person who thinks energy crystals make you younger. I’m a wrencher and a PC nerd and I don’t do yoga. But I definitely recommend that book to everyone.
Eckhart Tolle. Thich Nhat Hanh. Maharaj. Some of my favorite folks.
Nonduality and mindfulness (and a bit of DMT) have brought me a profound sense of peace and happiness into my life that I never thought imaginable.
Sometimes the worry about future things is necessary though. It’s just unfortunate that not doing that all the time is so difficult.
That’s only true if thinking stuff over is already worrying about something. It’s a fine line, I guess.
When i ate that tasty mango yesterday,at 10pm
Two weeks ago. It comes and goes.
I’ve been a bit overworked lately and that’s made me feel numb generally. Then of course there’s the news… I’m very not happy with the world at the moment.
Same man, I’ve been working so much lately and feel like I need a break
Yeah I did a lot of overtime last week. A lot.
My brain is still baked.
I don’t normally but sometimes that’s needed, just usually I get time off after and I don’t have that luxury at the moment.
What work are u doing?
That’s a nice description. I would say for me, it’s when I’m not afraid or worried about everything all the time. These occasions happen, thankfully, but not too often. And sometimes through out the day.
The first, strongest, and longest lasting moment like this I can recall is when I was 15 and homeless and a friend snuck me in to sleep on their floor. I felt safe and understood and accepted in a way I never had before and all too rarely have since. It’s still a moment I escape to sometimes when circumstances are rough and I can’t change them. Not the food or the games or the teen romance, just laying there in the dark knowing that everything was (and could actually be) ok. That a better world was possible, so to speak. That I wasn’t alone.
I honestly cannot remember.
Me after reading this thread.
Fuck, am I depressed?
I’m pretty sure depression is a human condition that ebbs and flows on a spectrum, and increases in intensity, as we age.
increases in intensity, as we age
So it’s going to get worse?
What’s with the ideal of a jolly wise, old person then?
Made me think of Vonnegut’s prologue to Slapstick:
"I have had some experiences with love, or think I have, anyway, although the ones I have liked best could easily be described as “common decency.” I treated somebody well for a little while, or maybe even for a tremendously long time, and that person treated me well in turn. Love need not have had anything to do with it.
Also: I cannot distinguish between the love I have for people and the love I have for dogs.
When a child, and not watching comedians on film or listening to comedians on the radio, I used to spend a lot of time rolling around on rugs with uncritically affectionate dogs we had. And I still do a lot of that. The dogs become tired and confused and embarrassed long before I do. I could go on forever.
Hi ho."
Today. It was a sunny day, I was back at the office after a couple of miserable sick days, I had good food. I was happy, or maybe very content is more accurate. Although happiness is pretty much my default setting.
January, I took a five day weekend and in the middle of it was actually doing things I wanted to do and having fun, instead of my usual of trudging through work, making dinner, and going straight to bed after. I think that was pretty good, I felt a little happy. Before that it was probably over a year though. I have to enjoy it when it comes, because it’s sparse and fleeting.
I wonder if the scarcity of these moments adds to their value.
I’m not in favor of self-denying ourselves these special moments when we can, but, as someone who has been unemployed, I feel a big difference in doing whatever you want because you choose to as opposed to because there’s nothing else to do.
The modern workplace has become a chore, and while I know it’s not realistic or practical to “do what you love”, it is a bit sad to think the modern workplace is more a chore necessary for survival rather than a natural activity endowed with meaning on its own terms. At least, in my case.
Thank you for sharing.
Elation is a moment. And honestly that’s fleeting. When most people think of happiness, they are really feeling elation. Happiness is a state of mind. With happiness it’s more or less being content and enjoying your big picture …
