Taking a Bliss Beat
This essay originally appeared in the Monday morning newsletter on 7/27/20.
Today, I’m sharing three random things I encountered over the past couple of days. At first glance, these things may appear unrelated. But keep reading as I believe there is a common thread connecting the three.
One: Last Thursday’s weather in Chicago was magical. The sun rose early and the piercing blue sky stayed with us all day. It was warm, but not too hot, and a delightful breeze dissipated any leftover humidity in the air. Every time I walked outside, I thought to myself: “this is what Chicagoans dream of all winter.”
Two: Also on Thursday, Taylor Swift surprised fans by announcing an entire album would drop at midnight. Fans were in a constant state of joy for the rest of the day from the excitement and anticipation. Her fans are accustomed to decoding vague clues and waiting weeks and months for new music, so the shared sentiment among the group was “we need to enjoy this moment because we never get surprises like this.”
Three: Two friends and I dined at a restaurant on Friday that we’ve been dying to go to for a while now. We didn’t even look up the menu or pictures in advance to build anticipation for this dining experience (does anyone else do this?). As I sat on this restaurant’s patio Friday afternoon, I took a quick second to express a moment of gratitude for my friends and the restaurant’s great ambiance. “I want to remember this happy moment,” I thought to myself.
There was a feeling of joyfulness in all three of these situations. And that joyful feeling was because of something fleeting:
- I wanted to take in the nice summer weather and enjoy it because I know it won’t last.
- Taylor Swift fans celebrated the surprise announcement because it was something out of the ordinary and could be a one-time thing.
- I took a moment to express gratitude for feeling happy during Friday’s dinner. I know I would have fun again if I went back to that same restaurant with the same friends next Friday, but I won’t ever be able to fully re-create that first-time experience.
Have you felt something similar before? For me, other examples of times I’ve felt this “joyful feeling because of something fleeting” include:
- Cracking open a new book
- Waking up on Monday and thinking about the new week ahead of us (duh!)
- Waking up and thinking it’s a workday, and then realizing it’s the weekend (the best!!)
- The moment immediately after I send that big recap at work or put up an out-of-office message
- Walking out of the salon after getting a haircut
- When the lights dim at a concert, a play or a movie theater (remember those things?)
- The first day of vacation (and remember vacations?)
As I reflected on these little moments (and how many of them can happen in the span of a week!), I thought about how I want to be better about feeling these moments fully.
Don’t get me wrong: these little moments of joy aren’t going to fix the anxious, sad and hard things going on in our world right now. Recognizing these little things won’t cause some big change in our life or elicit some deep emotions or thoughts. But I do think making the effort to look for these moments will help us to experience joy on a more frequent basis and remember how many good things can still happen in uncertain and sad times.
So, to help myself remember to start pausing and fully experiencing these quick bursts of joy, I came up with a catchy name to keep in mind: “bliss beats.”
(After all, “joyful feeling because of something fleeting” doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue.)
Now, in all the situations outlined above (and more!), I can smile and remind myself: Take a bliss beat and feel this moment.
What do you think? Will you be looking for some bliss beats this week?
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