Have you ever felt as if, for a second, present and future became nothing but dreams, and the only reality you could experience was the past? For a second, you had no memories, no life, no name… You forgot everything, and you lived somebody else’s life. It might sound scary, but in fact, it is wonderful, a surreal feeling that cannot compare to any other. Your soul is vibrating, your heart keeps on beating. It is racing in your chest, but for you, it seems as if your body no longer exists; you become spirit. You are air and water and earth at the same time.
I think we all experience this incredible feeling, at least once in our lives. For me, it happened when I visited l’Atelier Cezanne in Aix-en-Provence. For a moment, I felt as if I lived the life of one of the greatest painters of all times. His soul was vibrating near mine to the point where I became part of it. I sensed what he sensed; I tasted what he tasted; I painted what he painted; I loved what he loved; I never left his side. It was odd, beautiful, strange, funny, and overwhelming all together. It lasted for only a second, but it felt like a lifetime.
When I opened my eyes, I rediscovered the present. I rediscovered my friends. I rediscovered my memories, and the first thought that came into my mind was the mental picture I took at Lizzy’s birthday party. Why? That was, for me, the moment when we no longer looked like kids from all over the world that just met and were about to spend a month together in Aix-en-Provence. That moment, we were family…
-Monica