17 Spectacular Feelings

Maybe it's the latent "Daily Routine" blogger in me, but sometimes I just feel the need to make a list of all the seemingly stupid things that make me ridiculously happy. I mean, I spend most of my time ignoring the little things and keeping my focus on the "big picture," but at the end of the day as I'm getting ready for bed I measure the success of my day by how many tiny, beautiful things happened to make it sparkle. So here is the beginning of what I hope to make a regular post: several things that make me giddy with joy.

1. There's this one stretch on a road I travel rather often where the speed limit goes from 30 mph to 45 mph. There's something about pressing down on the gas pedal and acceleration 15 mph that makes me feel like I'm king of the universe, or at least like I'm going way faster than I really am.

2. On a really hot summer day, after I've spent at least 30 minutes sitting on the beach with the heat from the sun wrapping around me, diving headfirst into the water; it feels so cold to my sun-baked body and is honestly one of the best feelings in the world.

3. After you've applied to at least twenty different stores and swear that if you have to fill out another application with the words "washed dishes, swept floors, wiped tables" you will tear every last hair out of your head...when the phone rings and you pick it up and it's someone telling you to come in for an interview, they got your application and liked it so much they're thinking of hiring you. It's like the world is finally realigned along its axis and the future makes sense again.

4. You know what it's like: you're 18, starting your freshman year of college, and you've never gotten a paycheck before. So that second Friday of the school year you make your way to the Cashier's office, stand in line with a dozen other not-so-excited people and say "I'm here to pick up my paycheck!" And then when you deposit it in the bank, knowing that it's money you worked hard for...you feel like if you can do this, you can do anything.

5. The last hundred meters of any run, when you see your goal ahead of you and let loose in a final sprint; suddenly all the tiredness of the past 30 minutes dissipates and you're free, you're a cheetah, you feel light and airy and fast and so good and you remember "this is why I run."

6. After a long day at school or work, 8 hours of incessant brain exercise, when you sit down in your desk chair and log on to Facebook, and there it is: that little red flag that signals you have some notifications...but wait, there's more! That other little flat, the one for messages, is also up! It's pathetic, but you suddenly feel like maybe your life has purpose after all, because...you have Facebook notifications!

7. As lovely as getting a Facebook message is, there's still nothing quite like going to CPO, peering through the little crack and seeing something there; your heart starts pounding and you try to calm yourself down, you mutter "it's probably just another stupid flier," but you open it up anyway and it's not a flier, it's a real, honest-to-goodness letter from a high school friend. Now you know that life really is good.

8. There's almost no place I love better than a library: all those shelves of books, endless rows of reading material, make me feel like a kid on Halloween, coming home and counting up his candy. And the best part of the library is the opportunity to find new and incredible books. There is literally no feeling that can be compared to reading a book you've never read before, turning the pages and not knowing what's coming next, staying up til 3 am because you need to know what happens...and at the end, you close your eyes and wish you could rewind time so you could read it all over again without knowing what's going to happen.

9. All the same, there's also something so special about rewatching a show or movie you've seen thousands of times before. You start laughing five minutes before the funny scene, because you know it's coming and the anticipation is just so exquisite. And if you watch it with a friend, you're always scanning their face for their reaction to the part that has you clutching your gut with laughter, or wiping the tears from your eyes.

Something about diamonds: a pseudo children's story

Among the lined-up diamonds was one that did not sparkle.

While all her friends gleamed and shone and emitted rainbows of light,

she stood in her corner and looked up at the ceiling

and mourned that she was coated in a dull gray sheen.

Now whether she had never had any sparkle,

or had lost it all through the trials of diamond life,

no one would know:

all anyone knew was that among the lined-up diamonds was one that did not sparkle.

And as time went by her companions started to disappear,

one chosen to be set into a beautiful engagement ring,

one to grace the elegant neck of a rich lady,

yet another pair to form sparkling earrings for fancy balls,

and all the while the diamond that did not sparkle remained;

and a whole new set of sparkling diamonds poured in,

but among them all was one that did not sparkle.

One day a master jeweler came to examine the sparkling diamonds,

and all the others started preening and trying to make the best of themselves:

they turned to catch the light, rolled over to hide a flaw,

positioned themselves so they would be the first to catch his eye;

but the one that did not sparkle sat forlornly in her corner,

knowing she would not be chosen,

for she was the diamond that did not sparkle.

The jeweler looked and looked among the sparkling diamonds, but could not decide

(for all the gems were perfect, you see, and how do you fix perfection?)

He had just about decided to give up and search somewhere else,

when something, a discernment of a shape in the darkness,

or a faint gleam shining forth through the grime,

called his eye to the corner,

where the diamond who did not sparkle hid.

He smiled, reached in and grabbed this diamond

(and immediately all the others were full of murmurs,

for they knew that this was a diamond that was never chosen)

but the jeweler ignored them all and turned to the counter:

“I want this one,” he said, with a smile so enigmatic the cashier didn’t even question him,

simply raised her eyebrows and murmured, “well if you want

the diamond that does not sparkle.”

The jeweler took the diamond home and set it on the table;

for a while he just smiled at it, turned it over to admire its delicate cut,

and she began to wonder if maybe she hadn’t been chosen by a crazy man.

Finally he set her back, sighed deeply, and pulled out his kit.

“You know,” he said, “this is going to be a painful process,

for me no less than for you. So I’m giving you a choice:

if you want to remain as you are, I shan’t touch you,

but if you choose, you can sparkle as brightly as your companions.”

The diamond had never heard words like these ones.

Without even a second thought, she exclaimed:

“Of course I choose to sparkle! I have always wanted to sparkle!”

The jeweler smiled and nodded his head, then set to work,

to bring a sparkle to the diamond who did not sparkle.

The time passed slowly, and with excruciating pain:

the diamond that did not sparkle felt as though her very insides were being burned out,

and indeed the jeweler quickly learned that her dull gray sheen was not just a sheen,

but a darkness that penetrated to her core;

but he was an expert, master jeweler,

and he knew how to take an imperfect diamond, and make it shine,

and he knew how to do that in such a way that would not damage,

the future sparkle of the diamond who did not sparkle.

There were so many times when she wanted to beg him to quit,

so many times when she felt she couldn’t take another instant of pain,

but she closed her eyes and said to herself “someday you, too, will sparkle,

and you will never again be called the diamond that does not sparkle.”

Finally, the jeweler’s work was finished:

he set his tools aside and turned the diamond over and over,

examining every facet, searching for a hint of the murky grayness:

he found nothing that could prevent her from sparkling,

and yet she still did not gleam or shine or emit a single rainbow of light.

The jeweler said to her, "I have given you the gift of the ability to sparkle,

but the choice is yours: whether or not you sparkle brighter than all other,

or always remain a diamond that does not sparkle."

The next morning the jeweler woke up and there,

on his worktable, lay the most brilliant diamond he had ever laid eyes on.

The diamond smiled up at him in delight.

“Thank you, dear sir. Thank you for saving me!”

He simply smiled and said,

“From now on you shall be known

as the diamond who sparkles eternally.”