Tag: musings

How Many Times More?

A Wondering WandererLeave a comment

On a recent trip down the rabbit hole (while searching for something on the net), I came across something that I felt like sharing with you all today.

Because we don’t know when we will die, we get to think of life as an inexhaustible well. And yet everything happens only a certain number of times, and a very small number really. How many more times will you remember a certain afternoon of your childhood, an afternoon that is so deeply a part of your being that you can’t even conceive of your life without it? Perhaps four, or five times more? Perhaps not even that. How many more times will you watch the full moon rise? Perhaps twenty. And yet it all seems limitless…

This is an epitaph written on Brandon Lee’s tombstone. For those who don’t know him (I confess, I didn’t at the time), he was an actor, and the son of the legendary Bruce Lee. And unfortunately, he died at a very young age of 28.

And to give credit where it’s due, the above epitaph is actually paraphrased from a 1949 novel ‘The Sheltering Sky’ written by Paul Bowles.

The reason why I wanted to share this is because I found something really heartfelt about this quote. It just makes you pause and think about things, doesn’t it?

How many times do we really see the full Moon rise? When was the last time that you saw it? How many times do we share conversations and laughter with our loved ones? How many memories do we have that we cherish beyond anything?

The numbers may vary for different people, but one thing I think would be common for us all, is that we never think about how many more times we will get to experience those beautiful moments again. We just take these things for granted.

We are so used to certain things that we never fully realize how precious they are. We have such fragile and ephemeral lives. Anything can happen anytime. Yet, it’s like we are blind to the whole thing.

Now I do understand that there’s a practical aspect to the whole thing, and that we wouldn’t be able to function properly if we kept thinking about the impermanence of it all. I agree that we do need to focus on the present moment, and not worry about what might happen in the future, which we can not control beyond a certain limit.

But that should happen as a conscious choice, isn’t it? Not because we don’t realize the nature of these things, and are just living unconsciously, tumbling from one day to another. We must remain aware of how limited our days are. Because only then can we truly, deeply appreciate things like those wonderful memories, beautiful Moon rises, the laughter of loved ones, etc.

We get so caught up in our lives, postponing our plans for that vacation, for that conversation, for that reconciliation, for that thing that we always wanted to do, that we never stop to think what if there isn’t enough time to do those things later?

Experience what you can while you can. Go see the Moon rise!

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Pic Credits: brandonlee.com

The Discovery Of A Treasure

A Wondering Wanderer1 Comment

Well, the intervals are getting longer and longer now. I should be making more of an effort to write more frequently; lest, one day, they’ll become too long. If you give them the slightest space, “valid” reasons will always take up all your time. Currently, for me, those are settling into a new job, new city, searching for a house while living out of a suitcase, foraging for food, etc. And to write, I need a calm and settled environment, especially given the themes of this blog.

But, as I said, these are just excuses. If there’s time to do anything else, then there’s time to write. It’s all about getting the priorities right. And then having the willpower to do what needs to be done.

Anyways, enough ranting. I’m here now. So, let’s begin.

Today, I want to share with you an important discovery that I made recently. Potentially as valuable as any treasure in the world. In fact, even better than a treasure as no one can steal it from me!

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What Begins, Must End

A Wondering Wanderer1 Comment

Apart from this blog, I sometimes also write in an actual journal, a diary. I find that sometimes, you just need that physicality to writing – the sound and touch of paper, holding and moving the pen, the rhythm of the hands, instead of the mechanical “clickity-clack” of typing and staring at a white screen. And well, some thoughts are too private even for a “personal blog”. 😉

I don’t do it often – just a couple of entries a year. Sometimes even fewer. So, I’d been using that same diary for the last many, many years. But as I was writing in it this time, I realized that I had reached the end of it.

As I neared the end, I wanted to write a “goodbye” message in the little space that I had left (yeah, I’m “weird” that way), which I did. But as I began writing, I had an amusing and pleasant thought, one that I think (more like “hope”), some of you might find some beauty in. So, here I am, reproducing that final, short diary entry below:

* * *

And just like that I’ve reached the end of this journal – a journey that began many, many years ago, with a thoughtful gift. Now, there aren’t many pages left in this diary, for another one of life’s journeys.

A little more space to continue writing would have been nice, but we don’t control how many pages we are given, and where our story ends. I guess I’d never really be ready for it to be over. So many stories left untold, incomplete. But not much that I can do about it.

Sometimes, you get a chance to wrap up your story in time, when you know the end is near, but even then, it’s not easy letting go. You wish you could continue in some way or another; just refusing to let go.

But, the end approaches, and it’s time to say, “Thank You! And Goodbye.” 🙂

* * *

Photo Credit: Dariusz Sankowski on Unsplash

Advice For A Parent

A Wondering Wanderer1 Comment

First of all, let me come clean: I’m not a parent myself, so maybe I can’t see a parent’s point of view. But I have been a child [some say, myself included, that I am one, even now 😉 ] and have wanted to say the following to parents (to some parents anyway):

The best thing a parent can do for their children is to not try to control them. Advise them, share your experiences and knowledge with them. Be there for them when they fall, because they will. But give them the freedom to make their own mistakes; teach them how to learn from their mistakes and not repeat them. You might think you can protect your children, but you can’t, not really – you can just prepare them.

Let them dream, let them dare. Let them define what they can do, and what they can’t.

Don’t stand in the way of their destiny.

A Good Chat

A Wondering Wanderer2 Comments

Had a great chat with a some guys today. Some were already my friends, some weren’t, and I had never thought about getting to know more about those who weren’t. But by the end of the conversation, I had reached a place where I wouldn’t mind getting to know them a bit more, maybe even call them a friend one day.

It’s a wonderful feeling – slowly getting to know a person more and more over a conversation. Of course, assuming you happen to like him or her as you are going along.

Also amazing is how people belonging to the same time and similar backgrounds have so much in common – you miss the same things in life, have similar experiences of the common events like remembering the same episode from an old TV serial – in general, just having the same interests and thoughts about so many things in life.

It doesn’t take much – just an hour – but you feel so much more than just what you’d feel normally in one hour. I could spend hours watching movies, TV serials, catching up on the latest news & technology, reading up for improving professional prospects, sleep-scrolling through Facebook, etc. But never feel so much “belonging” in just 1 hour.

What am I feeling right now? I don’t know. I’ve always felt a bit left out, a bit different from everyone else. I guess that’s why it’s moments like these, when I connect with those around me, that overwhelm me. Am I happy? I’m not sure I’d characterise my state of mind right now as being “happy” just because of the conversation. But, I did have a great time, and I would certainly love to repeat the past hour again.

There’s something about human contact that just has to be witnessed by being there personally – the location doesn’t matter, the time doesn’t matter, the weather doesn’t matter. All there is, is what you are talking about – sharing memories, your views, listening to others’, learning new things about those around you. The highs of nostalgia and discovery, combined.

Hopefully, I didn’t scare the guys away. Hopefully, somehow, no matter how unlikely, we’ll get together some day and have another great chat. Hopefully, providence will conspire to give us opportunities to develop our relationships further, and hopefully, they will develop into beautiful relationships.

Probably the best hour of my life this week, if not the month. It’s a memory, one that I hope I keep for a long time.