Jars of Hearts

Sometimes I wish I could put a particular feeling in a jar and save a little of it for later. Like a snack that you can enjoy when you want it most. I remember generally how I felt at certain times in my life. I remember the happiness on my wedding day. I remember the freedom of my childhood. I remember laying on a blanket and looking at the stars. I remember the tranquility from a hike in the mountains. I remember the awe of holding a newborn baby.

But these feelings can be all too fleeting. Before you know it they are past, and all you are left with is an ever-fading memory. Some feelings and experiences you can try to re-create. You can go hiking frequently. You can look at the stars whenever you can. You can do a vowel renewal with your spouse. But often, the original feeling can never be duplicated. It's like emotions are as beautiful and precious, yet as fragile as a bubble. Here one second, and gone the next.

I have found that the closest thing to preserving feelings in jars, is exposure to art. I can listen to a song and feel something I had forgotten about. I can look at a beautiful painting and be reminded of a summer when I was young. I can watch a movie and be moved to the point of tears. I can read a story and be transported to a place where I was long ago.

Once in a while I get really morose about the end of really wonderful feelings. But maybe it is better this way. If we could bottle up our feelings and save them for later, we might just all go around as emotional wreaks. Or we may never go out again. Hording our precious memories. Never knowing that we had yet to taste the sweetest ones.