There are things so beautiful and fragile, so short that for only a second they are alive. A moment of wonder to grasp, to experience them.
..: a smell, a sun ray, a scenery, a smile, a faint feeling :..
Just after you are not paralyzed anymore, you already want to go back, experience it again, more, longer, just one more second. But it's gone, the moment is over, this was it; perhaps you missed it, perhaps you didn't value it enough while it was there. You most likely missed it because there is so much in these tiny moments, too much for you to comprehend.
..: a rainbow, a strike of lightning, a touch, a look; gone again! :..
The only thing that persists is a memory, a mental picture or a link to summon a weak, fuzzy version of this moment, this feeling. The pure thing is out of reach, never to be touched, smelled, seen, heard or felt again, never. Never! You hear me, never, so pay attention next time. When you perform or see an artwork or craft, when you are in nature, when you are with animals or genuinely happy or loving humans. Those are the places you will most likely be struck by that which you keep missing: those little moments of joy.
..: the innocent call of a bird, an icy mountain range, a hair raising itself, a warm breath on your neck :..
Only in places where there is no performance, only in places of play can it be born, never through force nor masquerade, only through truth and lack of intention. Only a genuine path can lead you to what you seek, and only genuine and awake eyes can see it, never the occupied nor the clouded.
Isn't it fascinating how in those moments the universe and everything around you seem to speak the same language. A language without words, only of emotion and intuition. In a moment so incredibly short, so much has been said that it could fill many books if you tried to write it out. A second so long it could have been years you stood there. And you missed it again, didn't you?
..: an aurora up in the sky, the silhouette in front of the fire, the setting sun, fingernails on your chest, the wag of a puppies tail, the sad yet proud relief on the singer's face after finishing the song :..
Why is he sad, you may ask. Because it is also gone for him. He is here, back here again. While before, he was. He just was. In the moment there was no other intention than to be, to feel, to do. No reason or thought, he simply was. No mind, no people, no self-consciousness, no expectations, no place other than here, no other time but now. But it's all gone, that's why he is sad. Now it is noisy again, the world is back, he notices you and your touched gaze, which makes him happy. Because he can feel the echo of the place he just left in your eyes for another brief second.
Artists seem to know this secret more so than people of science. More often can they open the secret doors. Athletes as well, and masterful craftsman and all those who live with nature. They have an easier time experiencing that what everyone wants. Some call it flow, some awe, some wonder, some peace, some love, some awareness and yet others timelessness. Everyone tries to achieve it with different methods: meditation, getting lost in sport or craft, being together with a lover or a resemblance of it, going into nature. It does not matter which one you choose, for all those and many other things may get you through the door; to the sacred place.
All of them will produce a sensation of connection and peace in the here and now.
A moment that is no moment while it is, only becomes one in hindsight. An emotion that is none while it is, only in contrast afterwards, trying to understand, it becomes one. A sensation which is, at this moment, the only thing that is to be experienced, no thought about another thing outside of this reality.
You know what I speak of, and I hear your yearning for it. Loud are the silent pleas to enter the realm. But I assure you, you will enter again; next time just experience it deeper. Pay more attention. Appreciate it to the fullest. For you will lose it as surely as it will have come to you, and you will never know when to expect a door to the kingdom of joy presenting itself.