Do you ever have those moments where your heart seems to give a little burst and everything seems to shimmer? And for those few seconds you feel overwhelmed by love in such a positive way, like a surge of love that brings with it a feeling of clam? Recently I experienced it while laying Emerson down after she had fallen asleep in my arms. I watched her head slowly fall to one side on the mattress, her eyelids fluttering for a moment in that in between state where you're not sure if they will cry out and wake up, or settle and sleep. Her hand touched her face, as it is prone to do when she is very tired, and I knew she would sleep. As I watched her I felt a surge of emotion and in that instant there was an overflowing of love, contentment, gratitude, hope.
Another such moment I sat in bed, my children either side of me, as I read them a story. I recognised this moment as an image I held of motherhood long before I was a mother. Something I had yearned towards. An aspiration now fulfilled. The warm bodies and sleepy eyes beside me suddenly filled me with an immense and quiet joy. An intense wave washed over me, before the emotion receded. Everything was back to normal in a few moments, and my voice continued to rise and fall with the narrative.
I wonder what you call those moments?
Perhaps there is a word for it in another language?
Do you experience them too?
