On collecting experiences-

As we were growing up, mum would convince us to go on long walks or get off of social media and join her for a drive to nowhere in particular, the next state over. She would tell us, "collect the experience." And she wanted us to collect them all, with her.  But she was sure to do so without us if we chose to stay behind. 

On Sunday I got into a car with two friends and two of their friends. We drove an hour plus out of Seoul into the countryside for no reason in particular. I sat behind the driver, my friend, trying to catch the bits of Korean I understand. Every so often I had a glimpse into the conversations around me, and I felt so blessed. So blessed to be there in that car with those people, in this land heading to God-knows-where, but trusting the journey all the same. 

An empty field painted in autumn hues with splashes of lonely trees caught our attention along the way, beckoning us to come and roam free. We ended up wandering there for hours. For a whole Sunday. 

And it was the unraveling mystery of this Sunday that held me in awe as I collected an experience I am so humbled to continue to collect: the experience of being the only foreigner among natives of a land I have grown to love. The experience of being called friend. 

Thanks mum, for teaching me to say "yes." Thank you, for teaching me to be a collector of experience.

 Yoonski: @yoonski2

Moonsick: @pensivite

“As for you girls, you must risk everything for Freedom, and give everything for Passion, loving everything that your hearts and your bodies love. The only thing higher for a girl and more sacred for a young woman than her freedom and her passion should be her desire to make her life into poetry, surrendering everything she has to create a life as beautiful as the dreams that dance in her imagination.” 
― Roman Payne