February 16, 2022

“Pause”

I was walking out of the movie theater after the movie and had that strange feeling: the one we feel when life resumes after a movie. I couldn’t place myself into the character I was ––– I had merged with too many I encountered in the film. The night seemed brighter than it usually would be at the hour and street. This happens every time. My heart beats faster, my legs are heavier, and I believe I can say things I usually wouldn’t. I become vulnerable. Maybe I’ll think I was being too serious. Perhaps I’ll laugh at my unconscious caring. Yet I am obsessed with the way I open up for about two hours every time to consume a story, let it change me, and then face the world and myself. This is an essential pause.

- Rahil Najafabadi