Bittersweet is one of those rare emotions that doesn't come by often for me.

But when it does, I welcome it with open arms because it is one of those feelings that genuinely make me feel alive.

Today was my last day in my role, which I have held for the previous three years.

At the same time, I also said goodbye to a co-worker who had graduated and would be leaving the university.

As we packed up our cubicles, we reminisced our journey together and how much we have grown over the years. When we left, we even verbalized our gratitude for our space.

"Thank you, desk," "Thank you, chair," "Thank you, monitor."

Bittersweet is a unique feeling, and it's a universal feeling that we all have felt, usually at the culmination of a significant experience.

In episode 4 of Atlas of the Heart, Brenè Brown explained that bittersweet is a mixed feeling of happiness and sadness. She also explains that we feel bittersweet when our brain fluctuates between joy and sadness at the same time.

In the episode, Susan Cain said, "bittersweet is the acute awareness that in this world, sorrow is always going to be mixed with joy. It's also a state where you feel the piercing joy at the beauty of the world".

I always feel bittersweet when I am at the intersection of knowing it's time to move on, but at the same time in one final attempt, I try to grab and relieve some past times that I know would never come again.

So this is the lesson I am learning from bittersweet.

We experience the full spectrum of what life offers in our willingness to embrace that joy and sorrow at the same time.

The Definition of Bittersweet and Its Lesson

Bittersweet is one of those rare emotions that doesn't come by often for me. But when it

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