If I’m being honest, there are only a handful of times I’ve experienced true euphoria. Meeting my children for the first time ranks right up there.
Certainly it was euphoria erupting in the sterile confines of those clinically-monitored natural events. I recall the sting of ammonia residue burning my nostrils, released in short Lamaze “hee, hee, ho, ho, oh god!” purse-lipped bursts, the push, don’t push groaning pelvic floor implosions, and the excruciating waves of dull, sharp, 9-10-is there an 11? on a scale of how bad is it? pain.
I was drenched in euphoria by the tingling tickle of cool sweat beads popping from my pores under the glare of strobing fluorescent lights, my muscles shaking uncontrollably, the incessant click-clacking of wheels on linoleum, paper-booted feet shuffling, fetal heart monitor lub-dubbing and by the startling smack of cold metal on my bare back on its sticky slide to the edge, my fuzzy-socked feet lodged securely in stirrups cradling my heels, while a dozen excited eyes burned a hole through my gaping crotch.
But oh… that was only foreplay, euphorically speaking. The exquisite climax to this laboring rush came at long last in the hot, wet, rushing sensation of soft alien flesh sliding from my core into the waiting, latex-gloved hands of a masked stranger who uttered the words I had waited nine long, bloated, nauseating, glowing months to hear…maybe even longer, if I’m being honest. “You did it, Mama! Meet your beautiful daughter!” That, my friends was euphoria!
Euphoria is a sliver shy of madness don’t you think? It’s a scientific fact actually, in some cases, you can look it up. But if we are lucky, it consumes us at least once in a lifetime. I have been quadruply blessed, but I fear my heart could not survive a steady dose of it!
even euphoria
an exhilarating experience
has a dark side
it’s sometimes a symptom
of carbon monoxide poisoning, hard drugs or mania…
I’m perfectly content with really, really happy
~kat
A few thoughts and a Cherita on the topic of Euphoria for Mind Love Misery’s Menageries’ Sunday Writing Prompt: Describe a moment in your real or fictional life when you experienced euphoria. Be as vivid as possible, hit all the senses (and I don’t just mean the basic 5).
February 11th, 2018 at 10:39 pm
I went through it all with you reading these words. At least you were aware enough to feel it and be one with this incredible experience. Twice I was graced with such pain and rewarded with blessed angelic little beings.
You write so well, making it come alive for your reader.
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February 11th, 2018 at 10:45 pm
Thank you Hélène. Childbirth truly is a miracle and as close to euphoria that I can imagine.
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February 12th, 2018 at 6:05 am
you wrote this beautifully 🙂
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February 12th, 2018 at 7:28 am
Thank you NJ 😊
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February 12th, 2018 at 7:03 am
Thank you for sharing a small window into something that we men are, I suppose, jealous of. Something we can never experience, or imagine with any degree of certainty. Ladies, I, for one salute you. I do hope that you cooked your husband a celebratory dinner!!!!!!!
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February 12th, 2018 at 7:26 am
🤔 I forgive that last sentence Peter because I am certain you said it in jest! 🤪
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February 12th, 2018 at 9:00 am
Would I dare do otherwise? 😳
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February 12th, 2018 at 10:25 am
Smart gentleman! 😊
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February 12th, 2018 at 11:12 am
I had an emergency C-section and damn near died on the operating table, so I suppose my closest feeling to euphoria has been when skydiving. Or maybe after catching that big-ass salmon. 😉
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February 12th, 2018 at 12:13 pm
Those sound amazing! 🙂 p.s. glad you survived. 😉
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February 12th, 2018 at 1:07 pm
I imagine my wife felt euphoria after giving birth but probably not during the process. 😉
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February 12th, 2018 at 1:13 pm
It most definitely was the finale when full-fledged euphoria came! 🙂
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February 12th, 2018 at 1:10 pm
Very vivid description! Natural birth? Giving birth to my daughter was one of my moments of euphoria as well!
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February 12th, 2018 at 1:14 pm
Natural as in no epidural? yes. All four of my daughters (the last two were twins!) 🙂
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February 12th, 2018 at 1:26 pm
Oh wow bravo!
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February 12th, 2018 at 5:26 pm
Yes, euphoria and madness, a fine line. Beautifully written.
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February 12th, 2018 at 8:56 pm
Thank you. 😊
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