On November 9, 2011, I posted a Facebook status. “Day 1: Happiness is.. those perfect car rides where the radio just plays all the right songs.” I’ve posted every day since.
Flash forward to now, 2024. In the mid-4000s.
“Sometimes I look at the number and think, ‘oh my gosh, day 4591? I’m almost going to be at 4,600. That’s crazy. I remember when 4500 happened. I mean, I guess that was 100 days ago now, but that feels like it was just really recently. But that’s 100 days! That’s over 3 months! Time really is flying! So how do we slow it down—”
I’m playing a video on my phone from June 3, a note to self I’d saved to write about at a later day.
“So how do we slow it down? … By being present and counting our memories.”
My voice is raspy and my eyes look tired. I have hundreds of these little notes on my phone. For future writing. For future reference. I don’t really remember making this video… it doesn’t feel like anything special. What was I doing on June 3 anyway?
I looked up Day 4591. “Happiness is.. the way one person speaking their gratitude out loud leads to more gratitudes shared.” And suddenly I remember that day. In our weekly staff huddle at work, my colleague had started with an icebreaker asking everyone to share a note or story about someone they were grateful for on the team. Speaking gratitudes out loud leads to more gratitudes.
My daily time capsule of Happiness has the power to pause time for a moment—to pull me back to a memory that might otherwise have been lost.
To test this theory, and to dig a little deeper than recent past, I looked at last June 3. “Happiness is.. getting lunch with out of town friends who stop in your neighborhood before going to the airport. Grateful for laughter that fills an entire restaurant and the ease of beautiful company.”
And I only had to think for a moment before remembering my friends stopping in my old neighborhood. Them meeting my partner for the first time. My favorite Indian restaurant. We’re going to their wedding in a couple months.
What about June 3, 2022: “Happiness is.. the camaraderie that comes when a group of strangers has to sleep at an airport overnight because of dozens of last minute cancelled flights. That said, very excited that I’m about to go to sleep in a real bed now.” Now how could I ever forget the night I slept at La Guardia airport?
2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012.
Ten more times I jumped back to June 3. 10 more times I was hit with a flood of memories. Some exciting (friends!) some humorous (airports!) some sentimental (an old job!). All incredibly real. All undeniably tangible. All proof that I was there.
So how do we slow it down?
Perhaps this is the wrong question.
How do we savor it?
By living in the joy.
Comments