five moments

i. It's December. It's cold and dark outside and it feels like it might snow. The world is in black and white. There are toques on our heads, mitts on our hands, and a camera around my neck. We follow the streetlights down to the waterfront, a long enough walk away for our legs to be tired. We sit on the cold pavement on top of the staircase that looks like a boat's sail and shed a pair of mittens. We talked about life, one of those conversations that leaves you feeling so free, where you can let out all of your worries and theories and thoughts. Somehow, the idea that when we look up into the sky we're not looking up, but rather down into the eternal abyss that is the galaxy comes up and we spend a good amount of time trying to process that as we stare at the stars.

ii. It's early in the morning. The sun hasn't yet surfaced, but the light off of it has, and all different shades of purple and pink and orange reflect on the mighty pacific. The mountains in front of us are abundant and the birds flying over the glass-like water add a sort of serenity that couldn't be planned. We dipped our toes into the ocean to see what we were in for and slowly walked out towards the mountains. It was cold, but we were determined. We made a promise to completely submerge ourselves in the water, and on the count of three, felt the cold morning's water on our ears, our hair swaying around us like it does.

iii. It's May now. We're on a mountain overlooking a valley of sorts. It's been drizzling for the past half an hour or so. We rode the quad to this location, sort of planning as we go, not exactly knowing where we'd end up. It's beautiful though. We've been camping for the past two days and haven't washed our hair, gotten dressed, or worn makeup since we've been here. Somehow though, out there on that mountain, overlooking the never-ending greenery before us, we felt more beautiful than ever.

iv. It's June. School has just ended and we were going on our first adventure of the summer. A road trip. Maybe just a few hours away, but a road trip nonetheless. When we got to the beaches of Tofino, it was raining. The sky was dark and grey, but in the beautiful way that you can still see the hazy light of the sun trying to make it's way through, and it was cold and windy. We walked those beaches and took photos, and after a long time of cold, wind, and rain, the sun finally managed to break through and shine it's brilliant hazy light over the beach and rocks. It was beautiful.

 

v. It's evening time, and the sun has just started to make it's descent. I'm in Munich, with one of my very best friends in the entire world. We're at Oktoberfest, walking around the fairgrounds looking for souvenirs. It's my last night here and it feels special. We go on the swing ride to start, feeling infinite as we swing around and around, putting our arms out like birds, leaning our heads back to laugh. I don't think I stopped smiling the whole time.

 

These are five moments. Five moments of many that seemed to etch themselves so vividly into my memory. Five moments where I felt truly and infinitely alive.