My joy is full

My college friend group came into town last week and it was just the happiest thing. There are five of us – three live in UT and one in DC and we all came together in the city. The crazy thing is we didn't even really plan it. Two of them were already coming, and then it just worked out for the other two to come that same weekend. As we were sitting around a table eating dinner together, I kept thinking how beautiful it is that simply the presence of people you love can just fill your soul up with joy. 

The feeling reminds me of the moment when you finish learning a song – on the piano, the guitar, or whatever instrument. There's a feeling of wholeness, or completeness, the first time you play it all the way through. I get a high off of that feeling, and I often want to repeat it. Now that I actually know the song, I want to feel its fulness again. 

I think the reason why so many feelings in life are slightly empty is so that we can fully appreciate the moments that are full. There are so many days when the to-do list just isn't completely done, when the project just isn't quite right, when the words you use to try to express yourself aren't completely hitting the mark. We're trying. We're trying to be full and we repeatedly fall short, but we just keep trying because we've felt full before. Then we get blessed with moments like learning a new song, completing a meaningful project, or spending time with a person who resonates with our soul. 

You can only linger in fulness for so long – eventually you're going to want to learn another song. We need the cyclical journey of emptiness and fulness in order to grow. But I do love to feel full.