What is the sound of joy? Or the smell of ecstasy?

Think of the distance you've traversed this year. If we could map our 2023 journey, the physical paths we walked, ran, drove, rode, and flew, imagine the swirling network of energy you left behind. Imagine the paths of others we intersected traversing the same year.

Now consider the mental paths: all those thoughts, hopes, dreams, and fears. And consider the emotional paths: all those feelings shared and unspoken. Imagine if we could see these paths as a manifestation in the physical world.

Imagine the colors and shades of intensity and elevation. Imagine what these paths might sound like. Imagine, if we could dip our faces into these paths and be immersed in the sound of hope, or taste of joy, or feel of anger and fear from yourself, and then from another. Imagine if the ecstasy of another human had a scent like a magnolia flower, or the beach, or summer rain.

What if we could leave behind a trace of our journey, all the sensations generated from the smallest gestures and the most grand efforts. What does that trail look and feel like?

Imagine if we could revisit the path we've traversed this year and slip into the visceral paths of our loved ones, how would we feel about our connection to ourselves, and others, and to our journey?

I often think of my journey as something that happened, something in the past, a story that could be retold, something that has been left behind. Certainly, something that has made me who I am, but I’ve never thought of my path as a living, breathing piece of me now.

But what if our journeys, every step and every sensation and thought, all of it, is still with us? Trailing behind us as we charge ahead? What if our journey and the energy that emanates from this journey remains a part of us, like an organ or a limb, operating at a different frequency?

What if that visceral path of our year-long journey and all the physical and mental and emotional energy, all of what we've experienced, is still with us, trailing our every movement? And what if we were to turn around and try to walk back through that trail? To traverse what's been traversed?

Would the experience of past experiences feel differently?

Imagine feeling yourself feel the loss of a loved one again? Imagine watching yourself lose a job again, and think the thoughts of self doubt. Imagine experiencing the embrace of a loved one after a time away from each other, the smell of perfume from your partner as you leave for a night out, a meal shared with friends not seen for a year.

Would all of these experiences experienced again change?

And would you traverse the experience of 2023 again?