Sigh Candy

Sigh Candy
(Published in the Super Section of the Philippine Daily Inquirer August 18, 2007)

By Katrina A. Holigores

A thousand words are unspoken in a sigh. The singular release of breath, accompanied by an all original sound (composed by sigh-er) may represent anything from relief to sad surrender.

It can signal delight while recalling an afternoon spent in the company of a new friend or bring back with full force a painful memory of a past love. For whatever reason, when a sigh springs forth from one’s lips, it is never shallow, it comes drawn from a place deep within and is released into the here and now. Sighing is the most acute assessment of the power of what was experienced and its effect on the present. Wow. Deep. Sigh.

I’ve been collecting sighs recently, mostly mine, generated by changes that have occurred in my personal and professional life. There were sighs that welcomed the changes, and there were many more sighs that acted as the only way to lessen the dull ache in my heart when they were not welcome at all. I’ve been privy to other sighs as well, those of friends and family around me, it seems, that sighs are as universal as a deep belly laugh, and depending on the delivery can be met with sympathy or scorn.

So I carry a jar full of sigh candy, and every now and then I share one (or many) with a friend, or have a piece in private. What I’ve discovered is that each one symbolizes moving on, in other words, if you can sigh about something, then it’s behind you and the same way you push the breath out, you also push yourself forward if only to be fully aware of you feel, then and there. Sounds stupid, sigh, I know.

If anything, a sigh can help. It is an affirmation and a release. It welcomes in a happy thought and bids farewell to unpleasantness, all you need to do is breathe. Change is inevitable and will bring about every kind of emotion imaginable. Thank goodness no matter how affected we may get, no matter what part of the world we are in, we can always just stop, inhale and…sigh.