Bliss

Edison Deck Prompt: "Things that bring you bliss."

I don't know if I've ever experienced bliss. To me bliss is a emotional singularity. It's bigger than an a state of exceptional happiness. It's a gravity of emotion that pulls as quick as two industrial magnets that clack together when near each other. Pow, bliss.

Maybe I have experienced bliss.  My interpretation of the word could be all out of whack.  I could be over thinking it.  Who knows.  This list includes 10 instances which I feel like I experienced something near bliss.

1. When Andrea said, "Yes!"  I feel like my marriage proposal plan was on solid logical ground.  I bought Sam and Lindsey (Andrea's two girls and now, in some sense, mine as well), Pandora bracelets and charms.  I suppose the idea with those is that you purchase a charm for every special memory.  The idea was that I notify Andrea that I have these bracelets and I want to present them to the girls and tell them that they are a symbol of me wanting to be part of their life and that I love them.  However, the girls know that I want to propose to Andrea.  So, on "the day" both parties think the other is getting something special but are unaware of the misdirection.  Well, we go to a pier on the gulf of Mexico on a Wednesday.  The point of doing it on a Wednesday is so that nobody suspects anything.  Well, turns out that is the day of some random town party.  There are drunk people everywhere and homeless people laying all over the park.  Of course we're all out there now so all I we can do is press forward.  We sit down at the only available bench and get attacked by swarm after swarm of gnats.  So we move to the only open and clear pier and there, laying on the wood is a hairy sock.  I kick it into the water, a fish lunges to snatch it, and Andrea scolds me for littering.  I still proposed.  I asked the girls permission first.  They said "yes!" too.
2. When Sam and Lindsey said "Yes!".  See above.
3. The first car I ever bought on my own.  Red 2003 Chevy Cavalier.  It was repossessed because I didn't make payments which, coincidentally, was one of my most embarrassing moments.  It happened right in front of a girl I liked.  She wasn't amused.
4. Any dookie I've taken that, during the process, I was sure was some kind of a record.  Don't even act like you haven't sat there and mentally disappeared while taking a dump.  Everything stops for that moment.  Don't lie.
5. Standing up and proudly regarding #4 snaked in the toilet bowl followed by sadness that it is not an experience I can share with others although I'm confident others have the same experience.
6. Landing my first job and sitting at a sports bar with my friend Derek, clinking beers, and exclaiming, "We're going to be $60,000aires!"  (He nailed a job too).
   
7. Stepping off the plane in Seoul, South Korea.  I always wanted to visit another country.  I did before Korea but I was on a military camp in Al Udeid.  I was IN another country but I didn't get to experience it.  When I landed in South Korea I didn't know what to do with my body.  I was giddy.  Moreover, I knew nothing about Korea other than it was an Asian country.  When I left the terminal I immediately wanted to be everywhere in South Korea, experiencing it, all at once.
8. Any time I experience a song that makes it into my rotation.  There are songs I like, songs I love, and songs that I can listen to over and over and over.  Theses songs stimulate my imagination.  I'm somewhere else when they come on and expect anyone else hearing it to appreciate as deeply as I do.  I realize that is an irrational and unreasonable expectation but these songs are so impactful for me that my imagination goes off and I go on a journey.  Different genres do different things.  For example, Dream House by Deafheaven takes me on this emotional rollercoaster that I feel, somehow, walks me through my life.  My mind is often a torture device for me but its musical at the same time.  Under Water by Bassnectar takes me on a creative journey that helps me write sad but reflective paragraphs about myself. 
9. Any time someone tells me that my presence has helped them through a tough time.  It is validation that my intentions to be helpful and effort to bring joy to people occasionally works.  I choose to be happy.  I want others around me to choose to be happy.  To me, chooseing to be happy is a framework and a general best practice such that when things do get bad, we all can lean on each other.  It feels good to help.
10. When I finally decided to start my blog https://isuckateverything.com -- I've always wanted to do something with writing and media.  I could never figure it out.  I've read article after article about it and what I learned was I needed to answer why I wanted to have a blog.  Anytime I thought about the financial aspect of it I realized my heart wasn't in it.  Instead, my focus is to document my life MY way, do media MY way on MY own blog where I am the boss, and share my lunacy with the world -- whether anyone cares is beside the point.  I'm having fun and its exciting.  I think about it all the time.

The Prompt: