Happiness Injections?
Happiness injections: In the past, that’s how I thought of those times when life seemed, suddenly and surprisingly, perfect. And I believed the ability to seize and revel in those moments both indicated and contributed to sound mental health. I still believe that.
Recently, however— just since I started drafting this piece a couple of days ago, in fact—I’ve come to see those treasured times in a more profound light. Life is serendipitous. Sometimes what you need is brought to you unbidden.
Our minister’s Sunday topic was “Care of the Soul.” She described a recent incident in which, driving down Interstate 5 south of Los Angeles, she crested a hill and saw the Pacific in colors so deep and vibrant that “it almost made me sick . . .but not in a bad way.” She felt as though she had taken the scene into her body, she said, and acknowledged that the phenomenon, difficult to put into words, might be almost impossible to understand if you had never experienced it yourself.
As she spoke, I began to see that, in her view, “soul care” embodied those moments I had called “happiness injections.” I like her view better. It is, as I said, more profound and points to a coming together of mind, body, and spirit in a crystallizing moment of connection with the universe. At such times we feel, but the feeling defies analysis.
This kind of soul care requires intense engagement in the moment, openness to whatever is around us, a willingness to relate to the world on its own terms. While I’ve never experienced the physical sensation she described, there have been many times in my life when I’ve felt the uplifting “moreness” she described.
I like her view because, unlike mine, it offers a kernel of explanation. What I’ve called “happiness jolts” have always eluded my understanding. Now I’m beginning to understand why that’s the case: It involves the soul, a concept I struggle with. Nevertheless, skeptic that I 
am, I have moments of quiet exhilaration when I feel transported by a sense of connection, community, contentment. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
Many things can take me there. The clear soprano of a boys’ choir singing a descant high above the voices of a congregation; the first glimpse of a black-and-white photo that captures, as Technicolor cannot, the ambiance and tone of a time now gone; the flow of an unplanned day that weaves unexpected new connections with loved ones. The list goes on.
Each of us connects with the universe in our own unique way. I wonder what works for you.
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