The Halcyon Effect

A moment of clarity, though this one transcends what you’ve come to expect of them. Colour more vivid. The light is different. Above all, a sense of change prevails over the perspective. It is as if the lens has focused in. Now, this sensory phenomenon (For sensory it is, though it also seems to transcend any of the senses) may occur in a relatively mundane period of life, it is normally associated, at least in my experience, with periods of life that touch are soul, and periods, whether we know it or not at the time, which will form our future self. The beginning of a new relationship usually. It is as if an obscuring film that takes the lustre out of the everyday is lifted, revealing the world in its true splendour.

The affect of this experience on the observer is twofold – it is a delectable time to be alive, certainly. Every breath is appreciated. The world is alive before your very eyes in a way you knew it was but previously struggled to see. A deep warmth and joy fills the soul. Yet there is a downside. This new perception which effortlessly forces us into cherishing the virtues of being alive in this world is fleeting. Days, weeks, or at most a couple of months (I have not known it to persist beyond this time frame). And we have absolutely no control (In my experience) over its onset or disappearance.

We are left grasping. Enchanted by the time we cannot explain – a time that lifted us like the final warm breeze of summer lifts fallen leaves, a time that carried us along for a moment in time, everything happening, seemingly without our input, with as much beautiful providence as the finest writer could work into his novel. And then set down, always gently, to carry on, only a memory remaining. What then?

The visual sharpness of the world fades to its usual just-there quality. The light in which we perceived everything for that precious time fades imperceptibly – a once high contrast glow, a movies vividity fading once again to the norm. If you were to bring in an outside observer, I believe they would not notice a difference. The key lies in the soul of the individual who was graced with the experience. The beauty of the time, as mentioned, lies not in the senses. Though it is undoubtedly a sensory experience.

Now, left in our normal reality – the reality that has persisted since birth, we are left wondering. Will it come again? When? It’s what makes that’s special summer that special summer. We could amateurishly fumble at recreating the circumstances in which it came to us, but it will be to no avail. The Halcyon effect comes to us without rhyme or reason, it comes when it pleases, and we do not know when, or if, it will come again.

It is a time when, seemingly without effort, every choice we make is congruent with our truly desired path in life – a glimpse into what life could be if we were to stand up straight and shake free the shackles of our perceived place and rip away the rotten boards that obscure the light we seek. Let the longing linger, then. Perhaps reaching this pinnacle again is within our grasp.