Emotions

Of all the possible emotions for one to experience, I've probably felt more than 75% of them during the past year. Not all at the same time, and not all for the same reasons, I've felt happy, strong, hopeful, assured, certain, confident, powerful, love and loved, compassion, peaceful, relaxed, comfortable, beautiful, determined, glamorous, graceful, and inspired. I've also felt confused, apprehensive, cautious, scared, stressed, overwhelmed, and sad. In the 10 months prior to coming here, I'd been through more than my fair share of things I'd rather not live through again, and since being here, I've experience things I hope to never forget. Truvy, from Steel Magnolias (one of my most favorite movies), said that laughter through tears was her favorite emotion.

I've got two favorites.

Love. There is the kind of love that you feel for family. The kind you feel for a pet. The kind you feel for material objects like shoes. The kind you feel for a place, like the beach. And then there is the kind of love that changes your life. It may not last forever, but it makes an impact while it's there, and you hope to never forget it. Although it's extremely rare and unaccounted for at the moment, this is my most favorite kind of love.

My other equally favorite emotion is one that I can't put into just one word. It's the feeling I get from finally being in a place that I've dreamed of being for most of my life. While Korea hasn't always been on my radar, traveling has. I'll never forget the feeling I had when boarding that first plane in Orlando, navigating my way through LAX, and stepping my first steps on Korean soil in the dark almost one year ago. I'll never forget the feeling I had when waking up my first morning here and looking out of my window and seeing Korea for the first time. In a few weeks, I'll get to experience that feeling again when I step off the plane in Greece for my long-awaited vacation. The smell of the country. The scenery. The beach. Another continent. It's not a feeling I expect to experience often in my life because while I have no doubt I will travel to many places, I only dream of visiting a select few. Sure I love doing new things and want nothing more than to live a life full of wonderful experiences, but this particular emotion seems to be very rare, just like love.

I wish it were possible to bottle each of these emotions, put them on a shelf to display like photographs, and then open them to experience over and over again.