I am having trouble remembering what happiness feels like, so I asked a good friend at lunch today to remind me. She did a beautiful job creating a visual for me with heart shaped memories in a magical library of sorts à la J. K. Rowling. Then, being the teacher that she is to her core, she gave me a homework assignment:
What happiness feels like with the 5 senses.
Sight. Smell. Hearing. Taste. Touch.
This is what I came up with :
Happiness is beauty. Happiness is order. Happiness is surprise. Happiness is loved ones. Happiness is a good story. Happiness is another language. Happiness is a library full of books. Happiness is my favourite places empty. Happiness is my favourite places being enjoyed, full of people . Happiness is seeing a friend in person. Happiness is art. Happiness is laughter. Happiness is belonging. Happiness is generosity. Happiness is cleverness. Happiness is innocence. Happiness is wisdom. Happiness is health. Happiness is purpose in life. Happiness is movement. Happiness is loving and being loved. Happiness is being understood and being able to understand.
Happiness looks like nature. It looks like the giant granite rocks erratically left in forests and on mountains as the ice age moved on. It’s the green ferns on a backdrop of rust coloured ground from fallen pine needles that feel soft but durable when walked on. It’s the expanse of water at the edges of rivers, lakes and oceans. It’s a glowing pink sunset turning tangerine and lemon as the colours reflect off the ceiling of clouds before disappearing with the sunlight into the grayscale of dusk. It’s a stranger’s baby who smiles at you while their parents are busy across the room. It’s the beauty of paintings in an exhibit you wanted to see. It’s the geometry of a repeating shapes in a Chinese garden. It’s the grandeur of an art deco building lobby. It’s the awe of stepping into a church nave. It’s the variety of stone used in an expensive building. It’s the decor set in the lobby of a hotel. It’s the seasonal changes in the store front window. It’s the carefully put together outfit of the fashion conscious. It’s the inspirational mishmash of a vision board. It’s the aesthetic genius of a new book cover. It’s the twinkle lights that light up the living room when the sun has set.
Happiness smells like baking bread, cinnamon buns, and spun cotton candy. Happiness smells like pumpkin spice coffee in the fall. It’s the neighbour cooking curry. It’s frying garlic, onions and mushrooms when my boyfriend is making supper. It’s fried eggs and toast when my daughter is making breakfast. It’s roasted almonds, vegetables, chicken, peanuts.Happiness smells like a pesto on a hike above the Italian coast. It smells like melted butter on popcorn in a theatre. It smells like cologne in the air. Happiness smells like the rotting leaves in the forest on a cool day. It’s fresh air instead of pollution. It’s air freshener after a good bowel movement. It’s the smell of lilacs in the spring. It’s the smell of sage on a prairie wind.
Happiness sounds like a purring kitten. It sounds like a playground full of childrens’ voices. It sounds like a baby’s laugh. It’s the eruption of laughter with a friend who knows you from high school. It’s the sound of a loved one opening the door to come home. It’s the sound of teasing from brothers. It’s the cold sound of crunching white snow on a sunny winter day. It’s the swishing sound of leaves as you kick your feet through piles of autumn leaves just like you remember doing as a kid. It’s the crashing waves on the seashore as you walk on the beach. It’s the sound of trickling water that turns into a waterfall as you get closer and then fades away as you get further away. It’s the quiet of your living room on a day when you get to be at home. It’s the sound of the wind whipping around the house in a storm when you are safe and warm. It’s the sound of a catchy song that plays on a good quality speaker. It’s the sound of your favourite band in a concert of a lifetime. It’s the softness of a quilt full of memories.
Happiness tastes like maple syrup poured cold over snow. It tastes like fresh berries in the summer that you picked yourself. It tastes like the richness of a hundred different cheeses on your first visit to France. It tastes like a tomato still warm from the garden. It tastes like buttered corn at a family reunion. It’s a salty pretzel served warm in Central Park. Happiness tastes like a jammy red Cabernet, with a hint of cocoa and vanilla. It tastes like the first bite of your lunch when you are sitting at the mountain summit. It tastes like the richness of a french onion soup covered in melted cheese after downhill skiing for the day. It tastes like an artisanal chocolate that melts on your tongue into flavours that burst with interest and cause you to enjoy the discovery that the chocolate maker described to you in detail with glee. It’s a meal shared with family and savoured over conversation with friends.
Happiness is a cozy room full of people I love and who love me. It feels like the embrace of a loving hug. It’s a kid snuggling up close to you on the couch while you both read a book. It’s the feeling of relaxation that happens with a good massage. It’s the stroke of a loving hand. It’s the squeeze of a partner’s strong grip holding hands. It’s the smooth feel of silk, the rich feel of velvet, the rough tongue of a cat licking you in acceptance, the textured feel of a tree trunk, the cool feel of grass lying spread eagle on a perfect summer day. It’s the softness of your grandmother’s hands. It’s the rocking of a hammock on a warm lazy day. It’s the coldness on your toes that you dip in water off a dock. It’s the squishing of wet sand walking barefoot on the beach.
Happiness is finding a rare flower that only lives for one day. It is also enjoying a plant that you see every day. Happiness is food in season, and from your back yard, and found fresh at the farmer’s market. It is food shared from a friend’s garden. It’s food made by a friend and eaten in good company. It’s losing track of time trying to paint a picture. It’s the feeling after yoga class, limber and relaxed. It’s the euphoria of stopping when you finish a great run. It’s when you get to the top of a mountain and your breath is taken away by the view just as you are starting to catch it again from the climb.
Happiness is as much an act of the mind as it is a feeling. I can be happy without feeling happy, but I do like to feel happy when I believe I am happy. Happiness is hope for a better day because I remember the happiness that I have already known.
