Bottling Up the Unfamiliar: Finding Pure Joy and Keeping It.

Have you ever had a moment so radiant and full of pure, unexpected happiness that your very first thought is: how do I bottle this up?

That was me a couple of mornings ago. Out in the open field, I stood up through the sunroof of the car, arms wide open to the sky, letting the warm air wash over my face with my camera in hand. For over six miles, I rode like that, completely immersed in the moment, feeling lighter, happier, and more free than I have in a very long time.

A big part of why that morning flowed so effortlessly was the shared rhythm in the car. My ex-husband was behind the wheel and my little Hazel was right on the middle console watching everything with her usual calm self. While our paths have taken very different directions, our deep appreciation for nature and wildlife is one special place where we still truly align. He knew exactly how to navigate those trails… when to slow the crawl of the vehicle, when to pause, and he instantly recognized the quiet hand gestures I made the moment I lined up a shot. Having that seamless teamwork allowed me to let go of everything else and just be entirely present.

When I shared the moment with my sisters afterward, all I could talk about was wanting to capture that state of mind and save it.

That feeling was something rare and unfamiliar to me, but above all, it was completely pure. It didn’t come from any outside substances, I’ve never turned to anything like that. It was just unfiltered, natural joy rising from within.

But once the drive ends and you return to everyday life, the question lingers: How do you hold onto a feeling that feels so rare? What do you do on a normal day when you want to feel that alive again?

Here is what I’m discovering about “bottling” those moments:

1. Create a Mental and Visual Anchor

The first step is simply witnessing the joy while you are in it. It’s about taking a snapshot within yourself… remembering the warmth of the breeze, the tension releasing from your shoulders, and the quiet stillness of your mind.

Because my ex knows how visual I am and how I process memories, he stepped out of the car at the end of the trail to capture photos of me from the front and behind. The shot with my arms outstretched was purely for the joy of the moment!!  Of course, I would never normally hold my heavy gear like that, but I wanted a fun visual keepsake of how big and open my spirit felt right then!

The other shots he took captured the pure, focused adrenaline of the craft: tracking four kestrels soaring and maneuvering together across the open sky, completely dialed in and taking real shots in real-time. Having both the fun, expressive photo and the action shots gives me a complete doorway back to that morning.

2. Look for the “Small Sips”

We can’t always be standing through a sunroof on a scenic trail every morning, but we can invite smaller sips of that same energy into daily life. It might be stepping outside for ten quiet minutes, noticing the morning light through the trees, or simply taking a moment to look back at the images that brought us joy. You don’t need a grand landscape to recreate presence.

3. Trust That the Capacity Lives Inside You

The scenery, the birds, the drive, and the teamwork set the stage, but the joy itself came from within. That means it belongs to you… it isn’t locked away in that field. A regular day has its routine and responsibilities, and it’s okay if it doesn’t always feel like a peak experience. Knowing that deep sense of freedom naturally exists inside us means we can always cultivate the space for it to surface again.

I may not have a physical bottle to seal that morning into (except Ai helping me remember it by providing the “Happiness Bottles” that I now can visualize and not imagine), but that experience proved what’s possible. The practice now is simply clearing away the daily noise enough to let that natural, quiet happiness breathe.