I approached the silky gown with the caution of a bomb defuser, pinching the fabric as though too much human contact would cause it to dissipate.
With the hue of cotton candy, equally as bright as delicate, I pinch the cloth, trying to minimize the times I touch it. Like a prism, the fabric converts the ambient glow of my yellow kitchen lights into the blurred rays of a nighttime carnival.
The gown feels less like clothing and more of a second skin: gifted to me by my mother and tied with a matching magenta ribbon. Unfolding the drapery feels just like untying a bow- succinct and graceful until the original silhouette hangs.
The mission to slick my hair is equally as poised- my black hair stretched out into a thick string of inky dough, before twisted and twirled into an even bun. A blend of hair oils and serum acts as the glaze, flattening stray hairs until my hair sits taut and pulled back, neatly pleated to match the outline of my dress.
Getting ready had turned my body into a moving prototype of glass, where I carried myself with a cautious fragility, but I also brought a glittering skip in my step with me. As I kneeled gently for a family photo, I felt the moon rise in the center of my chest.
I tell my experience like this because the emotions that I underwent during this lunar celebration could only be described in the unsaid process of creation- the naturalistic and simplistic procedure of where each step is equally as necessary as intuitive.
My theory is that the world has never operated in words. “Show, not tell” is not just a commandment of writing but rather natural law, and anything else feels interruptive. It’s difficult for a single word to match the intensity of an emotion, but it’s easy to find read pages encapsulating a single feeling.
This is the sole reason why unsaid glances exist- the implications of unspoken movements, tones and atmosphere say what the human language limits us on. It’s not necessarily something one can document but feel.
Emotions aren’t tangible: they are the thin strings woven into a thousand thread rope.