There are a lot of things that are satisfying to hear. The sound of bubble wrap popping, the sound of leaves crunching on a beautiful fall day, the sound of your favorite person's laugh, all of these things are sounds that we can automatically associate with happiness and extreme joy. Some sounds we may be conditioned to love. For example, a child may learn to love the sound of footsteps from the front door at around six o'clock because they know that is when their father usually comes home from work. A lot of different things can be pleasing to hear from different people.

A sound that I have always enjoyed is the sound of breathing. One of my favorite things is when I'm sitting with someone and the room is just quiet enough to hear the breathing pattern of someone next to me. I find it so calming just to hear the rhythm of the inhale and the exhale of someone's breath. Once I started noticing the fact that I enjoyed hearing the sound of breathing, I thought maybe I just enjoyed hearing the breath from people I loved. I thought that ultimately made sense given the fact that you feel at peace and at ease when you are with your loved ones. Eventually, I noticed that I didn't just enjoy the sound of breathing from people I loved. I would be in a room with complete strangers and I would quietly hear that rhythm of breath for someone I have never met and I would feel joy.

Honestly, I felt like that was so creepy. I tried my best to come up with a logical reason as to why I find the sound of a stranger's breath to be comforting. After a while of contemplating I came to the conclusion that I was just some weird, creepy person with a strange quirk. But suddenly, one day it hit me. I finally understood why I enjoyed hearing the sound of someone breathing.

Breathing is a symbol of life. When you hear someone breathe, you subconsciously acknowledge the fact that they are alive. Life brings us joy. The lives of our loved ones, the lives of the strangers around us, and all life, in general, can touch us in ways we can't explain. Why? Because life, of all kind, is important.

I chose to write about this topic today because recently my high school community was affected by a suicide. This suicide was something that no one expected. Everyone was blindsided when they heard the news. This person in our community was someone who would light up the room, who had a goofy personality that made everyone's day better, who led people with their spirit and all-around amazing persona. Everyone keeps commenting on the fact that they assumed that he was happy and that they never saw it coming.

With this fresh on my mind, I just wanted to share this message with everyone reading that your life is important. You might be reading this and you might be thinking to yourself that this message is just a cliché but the reason it needs to be reiterated is that we are losing people. We are losing loved ones in our lives who deserve happiness. We are losing our brothers, our sisters, our daughters, our friends, our students, our future presidents, our future scientists, our future priests, our future businessmen and women, our future mothers, fathers, and our future world-changers all because we get too caught up in our own worlds to step out of our bubbles and remind people that they are important and that they are loved.

If you are reading this, you are important. You are loved more than you could ever know and sometimes that may be hard to understand and sometimes it may seem like the most inaccurate statement in the world but I can sincerely promise that you are loved more than you can ever know. Even when you are in your darkest of days you are meant to turn the world into something great. You are meant to live on and create a life of your own. It's okay to not be okay but please know that eventually, you will be okay even if it takes what seems like forever to get there. Be strong, keep fighting.

There is beauty in breathing and the beauty is the fact that you are alive! Please don't ever forget that!

If you or a loved one is struggling with mental health or suicidal thoughts, please contact the suicide hotline at 1-800-273-8255.