In this article, we discuss issues that are rarely (if ever) talked about in research: experiences of deep insight and inspiration, of meaning-making, of embodied passion and of excitement related to the practice of engaging in qualitative research and of being a qualitative researcher. These are the ‘aha’ moments or ‘eureka’ experiences. Drawing on Frigga Haug’s collective memory work, five individual memories were articulated as text and analysed collectively over a period of six months. By analytically deploying the concept of generativity, we portray the tensions, dynamics and interactions that (co)create aha moments and movements as a way of enacting situated research(er) agency and of challenging the neoliberal instrumentalization of research and researchers. Our aim is to contribute to visualizing and fostering small but powerful steps in innovative, good quality research and bringing desire and passion (back) into research practice.