After 362 days, and quite a lot of lagging behind and catching up, I’ve finally come full circle. It’s been a pretty cool journey, looking back at all these years through the photos I’ve taken, thinking about the places I’ve been, things I’ve done, people I’ve met. I have come to realize that the best reflections are still through the people I’ve interacted with — friends, strangers, friends who were once strangers, or strangers who had been friends.
Memories can get fuzzy. Sometimes they end up like silhouettes, lacking all the details. Other times they can be distorted like the reflection in a lake, shortly after the wind passes by. In the movie In and Out, one of my favorite scenes is when Sadness and Joy formed a dual colored core memory, signally Riley’s emotional growth. As I look back on all these memories, there’s never one that makes me completely happy or sad. Even the happiest memory solicits a tinge of longing, for a time that has passed, a friendship that’s no longer the same, a younger self. Then again, even the saddest moments are accompanied by a sense of gratitude, for the lessons I’ve learned, strength I’ve gained. Perhaps that’s been the greatest take away from this whole project.
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