One of the most important facets of living, at least living happily, is the ability to forget oneself and truly participate in life in the fullest sense of the word. Without intending to generalize, as every nationality is incredibly varied and with no set stereotype of how to behave, I was recently shown a prime example of losing oneself into the full spectrum of human emotion with an entire lack of fear of being judged by perfect strangers and friends alike. This occurred during the viewing of a film in the theaters of San Juan, Puerto Rico, where literally the entire audience participated in fully immersing themselves in the film. I was there to visit my family, as my mother was born and raised there, and although I have been going since childhood and seen practically every wonder the enchanted island has to offer, this was one of the most extraordinary commonplace occurrences I had the luck to behold.

At every palpably sad moment, people loudly sobbed and sniffled, shaking their fists at the screen and demanding answers. At every clever joke, the laughs were loudly shared. Going to the movies in Puerto Rico was a full-blown experience; it felt like all of us, perfect strangers, were actively undergoing a beautiful cinematic emotional roller coaster (it was a pretty loaded film). This was so eye-opening on so many levels, greatly because it was so odd and refreshing to see people not caring about whether or not they showed their true feelings in a public setting. Regardless of the fact that none of us knew each other, it was so human and gorgeous just to live and experience something together as people, even something as simple and rudimentary-seeming as viewing a film for the first time. This unusual phenomenon was something I want to cling to, a reminder of what it means to be unabashedly proud and perhaps even unknowingly, purely human.