I spent the past weekend at a music festival in Darling (Rocking the Daisies), just over an hour outside of Cape Town. This being the reason I haven't posted in about five days, but also the reason I thought back to a Japanese word I learnt a few months ago...
aware - (ah-weh-reh) The Japanese word for fleeting moments of fading beauty - the sad, bittersweet feeling when something is so good that you don't ever want it to end; like a good book or a mouthwatering hamburger. The word is normally used to depict the last couple of days of cherry blossom season.
It seemed perfectly fitting that I came upon the word and it's definition in a funny excerpt on 'Untranslatable words' in the Frankie Magazine, while sitting on the cold floor of the Dubai airport on an eight hour layover on the way home from my euphoric 10 week trip of Europe with Natalie. I wrote it down right away. Could it have been more fitting?
As we drove home from Darling yesterday, sun kissed and a little rough around the edges from a weekend of dancing and laughing and camping and slipping in mud, I watched the rolling hills bounce past my window and giggled at the state of Hayley's ruddy face and exhausted expression and felt this feeling of 'aware' all over again. In fact, I have come to know this feeling far to well. I feel it whenever summer and warm nights out camping come to an end, or even just as the last smidgen of ice-cold Mango juice drops out of the box onto my tongue. In that moment, I wish I could rewind and live it out all over again, or just stretch it out like a large wad of bubble gum. But then there's always the next fleeting moment to keep me occupied...and there it comes again...
The video below has nothing at all to do with 'aware' really, apart from the fact that I wanted to watch it over and over again because Kirk and his wife are so funny. At least we can hit replay on funny videos! Filmed by 'The Selby' - be inspired by their passion and wit.
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