The Joy of Forgetting Ourselves

There are moments when we forget ourselves entirely.

 

When laughter comes before thought, when dignity gives way to delight, and when the careful versions of ourselves that we carry through the world are briefly abandoned.

 

Perhaps growing older is, in part, the slow accumulation of restraint. We learn what is expected, how to behave, when to be serious, and how much of ourselves to reveal.

 

And somewhere along the way, we begin to mistake that restraint for wisdom.

 

But every so often, life interrupts our composure with something wonderfully ordinary. And for a moment, we remember that joy was never meant to be earned, explained, or postponed.

 

Sometimes it is enough simply to be alive, together, and completely unguarded.

 

*Cologne, Germany*

Done