BTS expanded my heart

I wanted to write something deeper, more well thought out but kept stumbling with what I wanted to say so am just going to write from the heart. As relatively new Army, and a much, much older Army, sometimes I feel I have to justify when I discovered BTS, like I am penalized for not having found them earlier. Sometimes, but rarely I believe, people come into your life that make you shine. They make you feel more loving and giving, towards yourself and others. They make you feel joyful and euphoric and good about yourself and your world. That is what BTS did for me. I honestly can’t pinpoint when I started discovering BTS and I have tried many times. The best I can do is to say I was aware of them because of their several appearances on various American television shows and award shows for a couple of years. But it wasn’t until they appeared on a show in the spring of 2019 that I remember watching them perform Boy with Luv and was just mesmerized by their dancing. Then I will see something from 2018 and remember that I watched it, or even 2017 so I must have been more aware than I realize. Still, I didn’t really connect in a deeper way for a while so I don’t know how it happened exactly. Most of 2019 was spent with some physical pain and that’s where my focus was but all I know is that by New Year’s Eve, somewhere along the line I must have been following them more closely because when they appeared on the Rockin’ New Year’s Eve program, I recall being so proud at how they looked compared to the other performers. Class and style and charm oozed out of them and I watched them like I had known them for years. Somewhere along the line they had crept into my heart and consciousness without me even being aware of it. From that point forward I had begun the descent into the famous rabbit hole and have never once looked back. Since I didn’t know a soul who had even heard of them I had to crawl around the Internet for a few months until I found Weverse and You Tube videos and people on Twitter devoted to BTS so I opened a new account where I felt safe to share my adoration of these seven young men. I even started watching TikTok videos of them. Now every free moment is spent devoted to them. Like everyone says over and over, you find them when you need them most. Or I like to think they found me. Most definitely when I needed them most.

My husband once said to me, “Oh, it’s all just entertainment, isn’t it?” How little does he know. I have an Asian Studies degree so he said it was only fitting that I would be attracted to them, but I think everyone who becomes Army understands without having to put it into words why we become Army and how we feel about them. It is pretty universal. Being part of a like-minded group whose sole mission is to make all their dreams come true and support their every happiness fulfills me in a way I never expected to feel. I am filled with happiness and joy and a profound love for these 7 beautiful people that I most likely will never meet and be able to tell them what they mean to me. Yet somehow I feel they know. I am constantly in awe of their talent, their humility, their laughter, their love for each other and their Army, their flawless inner and outer beauty. They have given me more than I could ever thank them for. I could say so much more but this is my story about how they came into my life. I truly, truly love, respect and admire them for the human beings and extraordinary talents that they are. I truly believe there are no finer human beings on this planet than the members of BTS. I am so proud of them and look up to them so much. They have expanded my heart in ways I never dreamed possible.