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When was the last time you felt happy? (lemmy.world)

submitted 18 hours ago by yizus@lemmy.world to c/asklemmy@lemmy.ml

39 comments fedilink hide all child comments

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.

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[–] moonshadow@slrpnk.net 3 points 16 hours ago

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.