Filed under: Comment
I’m doing a little project on ‘sensory happiness’ and I was wondering if you could help.
Basically I am wondering if there are any things [excluding family and friends] that are guaranteed to give you a sense of inner happiness each and everytime you come into contact with them.
This sense of happiness could be a byproduct of feeling content, safe or calm – it doesn’t matter – I just want to see what natural elements help people feel on an emotional high.
One of the main ones for me is when I walk down to my house in Balmain late at night … everything is quiet, the stars are shining brightly and the scent of jacaranda from the overhanging trees is in full ‘bloom’.
When those things all come together, I can’t help but feel good – and even if I get to my door in a matter of steps – the sensation stays with me for much longer.
Right, that’s me … what about you?
[Andy, given this is for one of YOUR clients, keep your smartarse answers to yourself, ha!]
24 Comments so far
Leave a comment
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
so saying a good shit or pretending youre james bond isnt the sort of thing you want to hear? well thats all the mens comments youve just discounted.
Comment by andy@cynic May 13, 2008 @ 8:18 amooh – I’m with you on the good crap ! Hard to beat that !
Comment by fan May 13, 2008 @ 8:26 amBut for natural elements, for me, it has to be waking up early on a winter morning and hearing the perfect silence of snow falling ! The silence of the falling snowflakes is like what it must be to have your head wrapped in cotton wool and being gently rocked in swaddling. Peace, calm, whiteness. Nothingness. Ahhhhhhhhh.
right, i’ve got a list:
rain on a corrugated iron roof
combination of sun, clear blue sky and slight breeze (especially at about 11am on a saturday morning.)
swimming in the sea and the feeling of salt on your skin afterwards
the sound of magpies in the morning and rosellas in the evening
light grey clouds and a slight chill while riding my bike: takes me back to europe
the smell of jasmine in september and fresias in october
walking down the dirt track near my folks’ place and seeing australian bush scrub and the smell of gumtrees.
you probably didn’t wanna be bombarded with ‘raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens’ etc, etc but hey – you wanted sensory, you got sensory 🙂
Comment by lauren May 13, 2008 @ 8:53 amI’m with Lauren with the rain on a corrugated roof, or a cold, grey rainy Sunday where Sarah and I get to spend the day at home, or reading the paper over breakfast, I sound a real wimp don’t I 🙂
Comment by Pete May 13, 2008 @ 9:13 amHands down it’s when you wake up in the morning and you think it’s time to get up and then look at your clock and realise it’s only 4am and you can go back to sleep. BEST.MOMENT.EVER.
It’s when you feel the warmest, most relieved, relaxed ever and the following sleep is the best you’ll have.
Well for my anyways…
Comment by Age May 13, 2008 @ 10:05 amFor me its the outdoors [ park , country side , lots of greenery] – being able to enjoy a nice and bright sunny day [ clear sky ] with a cool breeze in the background, Lots of time on hand, like lots and lots so I can just carry on doing nothing on a WEEKDAY , well nothing apart from enjoying the day
Comment by bhaskar May 13, 2008 @ 10:38 amooh – and the smell of freshly mown grass always cheers me up as it reminds me of my childhood !
Comment by fan May 13, 2008 @ 11:34 amA blackbird singing.
Comment by Marcus May 13, 2008 @ 2:07 pmin the dead of night?
Comment by lauren May 13, 2008 @ 2:18 pmjust before a thunder storm actually.
Comment by Marcus May 13, 2008 @ 2:36 pmPlaying football in the rain
Comment by northern May 13, 2008 @ 2:47 pmCycling so hard you create your own wind
Diving into the sea on a really hot day
A crisp, clean sweatshirt on your skin
A new computer keyboard, with crisp buttons
The silent office at 7am
No cup of tea NP? In a cynic created mug?
Bastard!
Comment by Rob May 13, 2008 @ 2:49 pmWatching tits cavorting on the birdtable.
Comment by John May 13, 2008 @ 4:56 pmseeing the seeds from a big cox splattering all over a hot girls face.
Comment by andy@cynic May 13, 2008 @ 5:40 pmcox apples you dirty minded fucks
The lunch buffet at the Peninsuala Bangkok, Grand Hyatt Hong Kong or Oriental Hotel in Singapore. That’s sensory happiness mate.
Comment by fredrik sarnblad May 13, 2008 @ 6:04 pmNo that’s gluttony Fred.
Comment by John May 13, 2008 @ 6:20 pmThe thumbnail icons next to nearly every comment on your blog.
Comment by Seb May 13, 2008 @ 7:04 pmWaking up on a Monday and not going to work.
The first lacing of a new pair of sneakers.
Running through empty streets at night.
The smell on your skin after a day at the beach.
Shopping with 40% discount at NIKEtown London.
Eating water melon in the sun.
Seeing your team beating the shit out of the local rival football club.
I thought I’d be enigmatic and omit tea, but as you inists…..
the way tea transforms the consistency of a dunked bisuit
The bubbles on the surface of tea made in a pot
The precise sound of tea being poured into china cups – it’s a higher note than porcelain
Oh, and the way a tennis ball explodes off a racket when you get the sweetspot.
Comment by northern May 13, 2008 @ 7:18 pmThe exhausted/exhilarated feeling after really hard exercise
The incredible metamorphosis from exhaustion to invincibility when endorphins kick in to give a natural high.
Brilliant, Andy….
Being at the base of or on top of a snow covered mountain.
Comment by Angus May 14, 2008 @ 12:12 amExcellent quality vanilla ice cream (it’s natural!)
Bizarrely the smell in underground carparks, sparking childhood memories of Vienna
Blossom in London in April
Driving the road between my mother’s beach house and my father’s house
Dry Australian scrub
The freeway leading in to Adeaide surrounded by red earth
Sydney harbour
The feeling you have after a nice dip in the ocean
A warming fire
Bright bright bright blue sky
Sunsets
Jacaranda trees
Dogs
Snow
The moment before a gig when the lights go down and the audience noise goes up quickly followed by the feeling of being connected to everyone as the music starts and everyone bounces up and down which you wouldn’t expect at a Mariah gig
Comment by Billy Whizz May 14, 2008 @ 1:36 amputting your finger into molten wax, letting it harden and peeling it off. rainbows, thunderstorms, waterfalls. the smell of sun lotion. the sun shining.
Comment by ladyp May 14, 2008 @ 3:17 amCrossing a road safe in the knowledge that Emah’s still in the office.
Comment by John May 14, 2008 @ 4:43 amWalking into a hotel restaurant on a weekend and seeing and smelling a huge breakfast buffet choice. Happiness.
Comment by Bazza May 14, 2008 @ 9:50 amThe smell of fat Queensland/Singaporean rain-drops on baking-hot concrete
Comment by Rob B June 10, 2008 @ 11:30 pmGetting the icy blast you get from a glass full of ice cubes and Tiger beer in some HDB food-court out in Serangoon or Yishun
Being in a foreign land and over hearing someone talk about your home town
Having a complete stranger smile at you, particularly if they’re good looking
Holding hands with someone
The knackered feeling you have after having a real laughing fit