Euphoria: a natural or induced feeling of over-the-top, heart-soaring happiness that will eventually end and have you crashing down to earth wondering where the hell that feeling went. — Okay, maybe that wasn’t exactly wiktionary’s (I’m sorry, but ‘wiktionary’? Really wiki people? You couldn’t have come up with something better? Like ‘wiki dictionary’? or ‘wiki-diki-dictionary?’) definition.
Things that can naturally cause euphoria:
Falling in looooove
Winning the lottery! Yay!
A major accomplishment like finishing a degree, selling your house, or hey!- publishing your first book!
Having a baby
Okay – that last one is kind of tricky. Despite the fact that the baby-having euphoria is totally natural, caused by some magic combination of getting to know your perfect little one and a rise in the-right-kind-of-hormones- the truth is, you are being drugged.
Basically, your body puts you on an ecstasy trip for the first year of a baby’s life so that you don’t notice the fact that you’re only getting three hours of sleep a night. Or that you have been enslaved 20 hours a day to a miniature Napoleon, Napoleon’s siblings and a big meat-head Napoleon who is nowhere to be found when there’s a diaper to be changed but still expects his clothes to be clean and folded.
Yet - you don’t caaaare! Everything’s fiiiine! You are in a world of chubby cheeks and cute animal pyjamas and even the baby’s POOP smells good for the first three months, for crying out loud!
Nature has you duped.
Needless to say, after having three babies in four years, I suddenly woke up after weaning my third child and looked around my world with wide, blinking eyes, thinking: ‘Where am I? *pulls out collar and looks down at chest* What happened to my BOOBS!? *gawks at reflection in mirror* Are those dark circles under my eyes permanent? Why is my hair so stringy? *checks out closet* Why are all my clothes washed-out and stained and torn? I haven’t actually been wearing these, have I? What the HELL IS GOING ON???'
The euphoria was gone- leaving me with three beautiful children I couldn’t love more, a husband who had A LOT of explaining to do, and a definite, definite need for a make-over.
What accomplishments or life-situations had you in your most euphoric state? Let’s keep it clean, peopleJ
33 comments:
yeah, having babies is probably the biggest. Funny how nature really does trick you in order to ensure survival of the species :)
Writing can make me euphoric as well, when I come up with a *brilliant idea* or the perfect sentence.
oh and running, well not the actual running part.. that part sucks.. but the euphoria that comes with crossing the finish line? yeah, that's a great feeling :)
Can't think of one now because I'm still laughing at your story. Great post!
Great posting - see? After all that self doubt you had not so long ago, you've bounced back (so it would appear) and posting great material :)
As for euphoria - hell, I could do with some right now! Letter from the bank telling me I'm over my limit, clients vanishing like morning mist, and income following suit.
Sometimes I do wonder about the greater scheme of things in this life...
GREAT POST, Katie!
I love your writing style, what is your book and where can I buy it? (and if it is not published, why are you not self-publishing?)
will be back to read more!!
best,
MOV
http://mothersofbrothersblog.blogspot.com
Kids and other drugs, like chocolate. The best part is when life turns around and becomes 'fair'. That's when your kids start having kids. There is some real 'euphoria'.
My kids are spaced really far apart. For me, the euphoria effect wasn't the same when I had a baby at 40 as it was when I was 28. Isn't it always a chemical release when you feel that way? Like runner's high?
Hahaha you are HILARIOUS.
I have some pretty serious PPD issues, so I never had the baby euphoria. But this past year, the biggest euphoria has been the First Draft High. When your CPs do a first readthrough and gush, gush, gush (I was lucky, mine live-tweeted it) about how they're falling in love with the characters, or oh geez they can't believe that happened, etc. It's before the actual crit rolls in, and you get that high of someone experiencing your story for the first time.
Nothing. Better.
There's a history of depression in my family of baby blues/ depression after delivery.
Can't say whether I'll be affected when I have kids, but I've never been keen on the whole pregnancy thing and being tied to the house with a newborn. (Which is sort of dumb since I'm really home all day anyway.)
Hahaha! That is so true. Although, I think I woke up a little bit before you. I stopped at two.
Well, right now, I'm doing a health makeover since I was diagnoses with EBV and not just Adrenal Fatigue. So I'm doing a total overhaul.
Your Post was Hilarious, by the way!
Shelly
http://secondhandshoesnovel.blogspot.com/
Awwww hope you found your boobs! LOL!!
This is so boring but getting to the University of My Choice was pretty amazing for a little mouse like me!
Take care
x
Anything book or beer related always gives me a strong sense of euphoria. Combine those two together and it's like a mental explosion of awesomeness.
(I clearly have not had kids yet)
I think there is engaged euphoria and then you get married and realize all the lovey happy romantic stuff dies in favor of can we pay our bills, what do you mean you are changing careers again, children, mortgages, insurance...
Euphoria is school, as in, the hours my darlings are there and I am here.
this is TOO TRUE! except for me, it was the opposite because i had postpartum, so i was miserable about everything, except looking at my baby's beautiful, beautiful faces. that's where the duping euphoria came from. i had three in four years as well, and it wasn't until my youngest was three or four that i realized that i didn't even know who i was anymore!
I have mini-euphoric moments throughout the day - uncontrollable smiling and palpatations and the urge to squeal excitedly.
I think I missed out a the baby euphoria, though. I feel a little cheated.
Ha ha ha. I love it! I felt totally euphoric when I finally found an agent. :)
Total euphoria when I had my son AND when I got my book published! great E post and nice to meet you!
The baby euphoria is the relief that the ordeal is OVER.
It might interest you to know that in Eugene, Oregon there is a company called Euphoria Chocolate and their truffles are the best thing to put in your mouth on the entire PLANET--seriously euphoric...
As for that baby... I'm not remembering a ton of euphoria there... possibly because I had to go back to work so hubby got more of the fun baby time.
I've experience a lot of euphoria lately: I signed a book deal a couple of weeks ago, then just this week, my son won a full-ride scholarship to college. After years of hard work on both fronts, it just doesn't get any better than that!
I am with you on the baby thing. Nature dupes you. But I love my kids.
I think have that new shiny idea does it for me too. Love it when there are still so many possibilities.
Jen from Falling for Fiction. ;0)
3 Kids in 4 years! You are either crazy or a saint (maybe both).
I can relate to your baby euphoria, though I only have one. However, I still have those thoughts- love my baby but wish I could wear my bikini again!
Your post made me feel angry at my husband and our son isn't due until June.
As far as euphoria goes, a really good and long yoga session can make you feel pretty euphoric. Or a two-hour massage.
I'm glad to hear about the happy hormones I get to look forward to once my baby boy is born. The whole sleep deprivation thing has been worrying me. :)
So I'm cracking up here. Before the baby eurphoria could kick off, a new baby was on the way. Suddenly, CRASHDOWN! Hormones leveled to norm and blinders removed to reveal the truth. Yes, you've been wearing those overly washed jeans with the biggest cheese-eating grin on your face, proudly too.
I can't speak on a recent euphoric moment. I had euphoria for my honeymoon, euphoria for the birth of our little girl, euphoria for the finalizing of our divorce and the ocassional equphoria when I binge on chocolate.
I can't think of too many things that put me in a euphoric state. I'm just one of those people who doesn't experience really high highs or low lows.
Lol! I haven't has babies but have watched friends go through this exact thing. :-) Now...where is my wine and chocolate? Cheers to Euphoria!
I always feel a sense of euphoria from fasting on Yom Kippur. I now have a friend who also counts YK as his favoritest holiday, for much the same reasons I have. There's just something to be said about the state of spiritual euphoria that comes from being so empty and feeling so spiritually pure, like you're operating on another level.
That giant chocolate bar looks pretty euphoric to me :-)
My big moments...marrying my high school sweetheart, seeing my first story in print, meeting Jess for the first time last month...
It seems that nature wants us to have children before we know what children are like so that we are still young enough to survive the experience of trying to raise them to adulthood... LOL If we waited til we had enough sense to know anything, our kind would have died out long ago.
Definitely having the twins. Although part of that really was drug induced :-)
Husband-at-the-time firmly told the nurse 'we' didn't want drugs and 'we' were having a natural childbirth. Yeah, no.
I get euphoric every time I spin into the manic phase of my bipolar disorder. A great football game and some music gets me there too.
OMG thanks for the laugh this morning. When I got to the line about boobs, I almost spit my coffee out!
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