Can one re-create giddiness moments?
by Bob Banner
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Lately I have been giving various workshops that have at their core the idea of needing to listen to our essential selves, to our inner core, to a higher self, to a mystery that is closer to us than our jugular. And it's been very interesting since I discover that what I often “teach” is what I need to learn. So I found it very unusual and uplifting that I discovered something about this listening to mystery process that had remained obscure to me for decades; and now I want to share it with others.
And of course all in involves the meaning of happiness since I sense that is the goal of much of our individual pursuit and yet it can be concealed quite mysteriously and cleverly.
Because I'm also leading laughter sessions where we laugh for no reason and use it as an exercise for health as well as mental health benefits, I've been privy to bouts of giddiness. Giddiness is a peculiarly rare and heightened state of being where time can often be suspended, and a feeling of euphoria, plus a sense of no-self emerges. According to www.thefreedictionary.com, giddy relates to profundities as well as being possessed by gods. I've had them rarely but remember them vividly.
One evening last week when I was experiencing a bout of darkness, I forced myself to recall some memories of a recent bout of giddiness. I was in a kitchen to help people clean up after a party. I didn't know anyone and I had this sense to help clean and put things away. For some strange reason I was catapulted into this state I called giddy. It was not drug-related or even person related, but the feeling was exquisite. I became “beside myself,” a most interesting expression that connotes not being myself but “beside” myself. How can I be “beside” myself? In any event “I” was having a “ball of a time” chatting about plastic bags, where the refrigerator was (it was hidden in what looked like shelves), and looking for Tupperware containers in the kitchen I wasn't familiar with. At one point someone asked me where I lived and being in that state I recall that I truly didn't know. That giddy state was so enrapturing that I didn't even care that I didn't know. And having no memory of where I lived it lasted about 10 minutes.
So, to continue the story, here I am reflecting on my giddy moments and decided to write them down to see if I could see some kind of common theme. Was it the people I was with? Was it a timing thing? Where was I? Did it have to do with food necessarily? Etc.
So after highlighting about 8 of these giddy occasions, over a period of 20 years or so, I seriously looked at them. What common thread did they hold and did they hold any understanding as it related to my so–called happiness? I looked and looked and reminisced and then as clear as day they all had a very specific, and common denominator. They all included a kitchen environment.
With that “insight” my mind traveled to other kitchen scenes where I had had experiences of laughter, gaiety, and giddiness. And then the mind sought more refinement. What was I doing? Was I in charge? Was I being told what to do? Was it with people or just me and on and on to somehow pin it down so I could possibly either replicate it or simply walk into a situation similar to see if the giddiness could emerge. Is it possible that with some sense of nudging from my rational intellect, could giddiness happen? Or should I simply let go and wait for another giddy experience? The question comes down to—can “I,” the normal rational being who lives in the world of daylight, common sense and reality constrictions, somehow design or nudge myself to enter into this world so giddiness will happen.
Is it similar to rituals? Perhaps rituals had their origin in spontaneous mind altercations but is the ritual performed to re–create that mode, those same feelings, or can one nudge or design the situation, to simply create that outcome, the container, that space, so one is now free to be in that space and to now let go into those designs and somehow be consciously awake to its purpose and allow it to unfold.
Well, I will have to wait and do something like that and report later but right now the gist is that I didn't KNOW how giddiness happened; and yet I was a leader of workshops that allegedly designed spaces and containers to nudge one to listen to the mystery and the unknown so a truer form of happiness could evolve.
So back to my earlier thoughts. It was just not the kitchen scene but it included people (and most often people I sort of knew or didn't know) and it included being told what to do so I didn't have to engage in making important decisions. I could simply relate to people, work with food, talk with others and the other factor was that these various situations were “of service,” meaning either for homeless people, or simply volunteering.
And almost 60 years of living on this planet that I now finally have the ingredients to what my personal “happiness” is all about. Also, I might add, it had nothing to do with getting paid, not in the least. This was simply a form of giving, being part of working together with people, who had similar aims, who are also not getting paid, and seemed to be receptive to my particular mode I'm calling giddiness.
So, I simply wish to share this with you so you too can explore your moments of giddiness (or moments of splendor, happiness, laughter, or call it what you will) and see what components comprise your specific setting or environment. Perhaps you can do it right now. Jot them down on a piece of paper, ask yourself some questions to identify what the common thread is, and see if you can determine any particular design.
And if you can replicate it, go for it and see what happens.
And be prepared to be surprised and be prepared to not be surprised and not get any results at all. Perhaps you will totally change your life and you will change jobs or move to another place on the planet. Who knows? The whole point is awareness and joy and hopefully the reader can gain something from it and whether you do or not please post it to this new Facebook page called The Giddy Institute.
Bob Banner is publisher of HopeDance online (www.hopedance.org), a writer, and a laughter yoga teacher. He can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
Details about the facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Giddy-Institute/160616640651680 or click to http://tinyurl.com/2fjatr9 .
