Often when I think back on what has happened in my life so far, what first comes to mind are not the jobs I've had or even the relationships that have lit up my world. Not the long periods of depression or joy or the places I've stayed at. Instead it's those ever so brief and precious little moments that pop up in my mind again, often so intensely that I practially relive them right there and then.

It might be that one minute when I sat on a porch with a good friend while the rain was pouring down and the sun suddenly broke through the clouds with perfect timing in the discussion, turning it around completely. Or it could be when a giant moose silently appeared from out of the smoke from the forest fires up in the Yukon. Or when I had the worst headache in the world and my friend Thaiz turned off the lights and massaged certain points on my head while speaking to me softly... Nothing spectacular in itself, but moments that meant a lot to me.

The last such moment I remember was just before I left Vancouver. I was in a parking lot right next to the airport and the sunset had coloured the horizon blood red. We had rented fencing equipment and were fencing away while the planes came thundering in right above our heads. It was a moment of closeness to my friends, of sorrow to leave Vancouver and also of great beauty all at once.

Do you remember these moments in your life? Which are they and why do you still cherish them? And don't you dare mention the birth of your child or your wedding. That's cheating.

Beautiful thread. It really does represent what life is all about.

I remember being with both of my best friends at BARKER'S SQUARE restaurant. My friend Joy was putting Ketsup on her burger, waiting for it to come out of the bottle. What do we hear over the in house speakers. "Anticipation" by Carly Simon. We laughed so hard. We looked at each other later in silence. It was like we were all saying "Yeah, these are the moments"

Another moment was being with my mom when she passed away at home. It wasn't unexpected. I'm so glad I was there to witness that.

My ex and I drunk as hell moon bathing in Cancun with a major storm in the horizon, lightning everywhere.

Me sliding down my dads legs as a child. He hated it because my dad has hairy legs but he would let me use his legs as a slide over and over.


M

MIGUELGOMEZ said:

Those sound like great moments, Miguel.

I can understand exactly how you were feeling in the first situation you described. A manifestation of God's sense of humour, if you will. Connections without words, where it's so clear that a thought is shared by everybody present can be powerful.

The drunken thunderstorm swimming sounds fantastic too. Exactly the type of moment that would stick in my mind too.

.

retina said:

The thunderstorm scenario sticks in my head also because I was so in love. I mean I really love this guy, we stuck it out for 8 years. It was one of those perfect nights. I even called my best friend to tell her, on a cell phone. Those 3 minutes cost me $160.

M

it's all about perspectives



hate me hate me

Off the top of my head I can only remember one such moment. I was sitting in Loring Park by myself on a crisp fall day where the weather was neither too warm nor too cool, the sun was shining and I
just
felt
happy.
For no good reason.
In fact I stopped what I was doing and scribbled down how I was feeling so I could remind myself later that once in a while, I feel good about things.

just this past weekend when we were at lollapalooza watching the pixies, i turned around and noticed that we were near the front of a crowd of thousands and thousands and thousands of people, and everyone was in great spirits and looking downright RAPT as the pixies played. my BF took pictures of people in the crowd, and it looked like a revival meeting or something.

you always hear about and see people being rude and pushy at concerts like this, but everyone was so incredibly cool and completely into the music. moments like that restore my faith in humanity just a little.

CarrieMpls said:

Oh no, I do that too sometimes! I pick up my camera or my notepad to "record" the moment and thereby miss half of it! It's nice to have later though.

Nice to hear that you could feel happy in the fall by the way. To me, that's the season of death.

retina said:

I adore the fall. Gorgeous leaves, sweater weather, starts to get dark a little earlier, Halloween, I love everything about it.
It's winter that does me in.