​As I stepped into the aquarium, the cool air enveloped me like a current. Blurred, shadowy crowds paid respect to the stained glass worlds with irreverent murmurs and voiceless awe. They stopped to peer into a miniature world, then moved on to another, ebbing and flowing at a leisurely pace. They stagnantly pooled around the centerpiece of the aquarium.

Flowers: the prototype of beauty, love, and life, but how closely do we ever look at them? Once, I put a flower to my face and studied it closer than I have ever studied a flower before. Seeing it this way, delicate patterns and arrangements came into view that would never have been apparent from afar. There were even patterns within patterns. Looking up close, whatever beauty I first noticed became doubled or tripled. After this, I wondered if the same phenomenon could be true with any object, and so I began experimenting. I moved on to stones, spoons, blankets, my hands, the moon…and I was amazed at how wonderful they became up close under bright light.

​​​I’ve been to five funerals since I died.