I love language and communication. I love to talk in and around and through things, wrap words around experiences, and process, process, process. But how in the world do I answer the question: "so, how was your trip?" I can't seem to figure it out.
- I can and often say: "uhhhh, good." - this is woefully insufficient, but often, it's exactly what people want to hear. I get obligatory pats on the back and bewildered smiles.
- I've toyed around with: "completely life changing in every way and everything about my world is different now." - this tends to catch people off guard and completely overwhelm them, leaving us staring at each other in awkward silence...not a great approach.
- I've tried: "what trip?" while feigning malaria-induced delirium.
- To forfeit, I say: "great, I'll have to show you pictures sometime." - of course, this never happens, but it does let people off the hook and allows them to feel good about themselves for asking.
- For those friends who really, really, really want to know and care deeply, I say: "It was heart breaking, completely joyous, beautiful in every way, intimidating, filling, emptying, and then filling again..." and then we sit for long hours and laugh and cry and honor the inevitable silence that comes when words aren't enough.