if i hug you,

will you stay together or dissolve into molecules?

For some reason, I've been mulling over this thought from the lovely film Before Sunset by Richard Linklater. I like this film a lot. I like how it changes on you with each viewing. The more I watch it & the older I get, the more I find in it & the more I appreciate it. It's not meant for those who favor action-drama-KABLAMO-special-effects-whoooooa movies. It's a simple film, of minimal editing & cutting, of an 80 minute conversation between two people in Paris as they ramble physically and conversationally.

As a visual person, I first tried to imagine what dissolving into molecules would look like. I imagined a photograph developing in reverse, with the picture fading quietly to white. Except not a photograph, but the real physical thing. & not to white, but to blend into the atmosphere, mingling with the fog and other vapors & elements that dance up there (I'd like to think they're all waltzing). I suppose dissolving into molecules is to depart from the physicality of life. Not to necessarily die, though. Just to mentally stray away from the realm of the five senses, to instead exist in the intangible, the ethereal-- thoughts, ideas, emotions. In some ways, I find this existence more terrifying than physical life. There are no distractions or buffers. It's just you. Plain, honest, you. Not that we should be afraid of who we are but as your own worst critic, it can be tough, sometimes dangerous, being alone with your thoughts and emotions. You can stress, delude, over-analyze, nitpick, etc. and no one will stop you. But there is also the happier flip side as well- you can take a break from the complexities & annoyances of daily life.

The staying together part, that's simpler to define. You remain present, grounded in the physical. You are in and aware of your body and the physical world around you.

So, putting these all together- if I hug you will you stay together or dissolve into molecules?