The positive emotion I feel most often is contentment. I’m not one of those sunshine-all-the-time people, and I’m not walking around mad at the world either. I land somewhere in the middle. When I finish a project and it matches the standard I set for myself, that’s when it hits. Not as fireworks, not as a euphoric high—more like a long exhale.
Most of my life, I pushed things to the edge just to get by, so being content feels like a win. It means I don’t have to live in constant overdrive. It’s not about chasing joy or ducking pain—it’s about recognizing that “enough” can be its own kind of peace. And I’ll take that over chaos any day.
Memoirs of Madness 