Some people swim with dolphins. Others make rats giggle.

In the mid-1990s, Jaak Panksepp and his graduate student Mary Burgdorf at Bowling Green State University in Ohio discovered that when you gently tickle a young rat’s nape, it will let out rapid, high-pitched chirps. These sounds are around 50 kHz, well above our human hearing range.

Don’t be alarmed. Those chirps aren’t distress calls; they are pure laughter, the rodent equivalent of unfiltered joy. The rats will even seek out these playful moments, choosing the tickle over treats, revealing that delight is a built-in impulse, not something we must hunt down.

If rats can laugh at the simple pleasure of a gentle touch, what does that say about the wellspring of joy nestled inside every creature with a heartbeat? We humans are born with our own factory-preset state of well-being, an ever-present spark that only waits for attention to flare into flame.

We call it joie de vivre. The delight of being alive. And it does not reside at the end of a to-do list. It flows through the quiet spaces between our obligations, waiting to be recognized.

To tap into that latent current of joy, we must become connoisseurs of our own experience. Slow down long enough to feel the ground beneath your feet and the breath coursing through your lungs.

Noticing…

• How sunlight sketches patterns on the floor.
• How the scent of rain awakens a buried memory.
• How a friend’s laughter ripples through a crowded room.

As you deepen your awareness, you stretch your senses beyond their usual limits. (Now, wouldn’t it be glorious if we could even tune into the hidden laughter of rats at play?)

Henry David Thoreau urged us to “live deep and suck out all the marrow of life.” That is the very invitation before us: to move past the autopilot of routine and lean into each moment’s rich texture.

When you pay such close attention, the world reveals its secret symphonies. The rustle of leaves becomes music, an ordinary cup of tea feels like ritual, and your own heartbeat turns into a drum of celebration.

So today, open your ears and your eyes as wide as you can. Listen not only for the obvious melodies but also for the faintest murmur of happiness tucked beneath the surface.

Let the hidden giggles, the chirps of curious rats, the gentle pulse of your own joy feed your soul. In this space of deep presence, you will discover that life’s delight was never lost, only waiting for you to hear it again.