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.
I have no idea. I only have two modes: distracted and uncomfortable.
If I’m uncomfortable then I’m not happy; If I’m distracted, I might be happy but I won’t notice.
This morning when I looked at my manicure. Even though it’s time for another. I love my nails and they make my day when I take a few seconds to look at them.
This morning watching my dog steal my spot in bed and snuggle with my husband.
Yesterday, on my bike, feeling the warm sun on my skin again after a long winter.
I can’t wait for this feeling when it gets warmer.
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!
Yesterday I was just driving home from the grocery store and the sky was a beautiful shade of pink. Light snow on the ground driving by a state park. In that moment I knew everything was Ok and I was at a state of peace I never would’ve thought possible even 1 year ago.
Ever since that DMT experience I had about 8 months ago, I have had more and more moments like this. And overall a profound sense of peace and joy. I have never been more grateful for a drug in my life.
How did you come into possession of that? (Totally not a cop, now please speak clearly into my chest area.)
Me after reading this thread.
Fuck, am I depressed?
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.
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.
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.
A recent weekend event - it was just my son and myself that weekend and I decided to take him to a cultural event in our city. As we were walking home after filling our bellies with food truck chicken and watching the lion dancers, he interrupted our silence with “Mom, I love going to street fairs with you.”
I could’ve held on to that moment forever.
Thank you for sharing this beautiful moment.
It’s been a few years. I was rebuilding myself. For context, I used to be a pretty shitty person. People tell me I wasn’t that bad but I hate the person I used to be. I actually felt good about myself for the first time in my life and was happy. Due to a combination of factors I rebounded heavy on the self loathing and depression and have been that way ever since. That was a few years ago.
When i ate that tasty mango yesterday,at 10pm
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.
Yesterday my wife texted me to say that her body is clear from what was preventing a pregnancy (won’t go into too much detail). a beacon of hope after years of struggling.
~Oct 10, 2021 to about ~Nov 26, 2021.
For a short time, thought I was going to be a dad. Was finally happy again. Torn away when I figured out the only reason she wanted to have kids with me was so I could bank roll her. I was just an ATM.
Before that, maybe around 2004-2007. Was in college, in what I thought was a happy relationship, had friends, genuinely looked forward to each day. I had goals and dreams. I smiled because I wanted to, not because it’s what people expected.
Dang, man. 🫂
I thought I killed my analog oscilliscope about 20 minutes ago. Thankfully I didn’t, so that’s pretty cool.
If I’m smart, I’ll soon cut off basically everything news adjacent, maybe including lemmy depending if I can get good filters. Maybe a desprate effort to claw back from anything which weighs me down, given the gravity of our future, but eh.
