Remembering Through the Senses

Reflecting on Another Year of Life

It’s Friday night and an almost 3*-year-old me is typing away on my computer while listening to instrumental music with the sound of waves in the background. I would have preferred to have some wine and cold cuts and cheese on the side but, let’s reserve that for a more special occasion.

I’m supposed to be writing a different article but I can’t help it. The moon is shining so bright that I was reminded of my high school days when I would sit by the window and write away some poetry in the moonlight. Those were not carefree times, believe me. But writing always brings me comfort and joy as if my mind had a separate will of its own and would continue to bugger me if I don’t write down the words to get it out of my system.

I feel nostalgic about things that I’ve done before and would be planning or doing right now if not for this pandemic. I especially miss traveling.

I regret that I haven’t taken any photos of sunrises or sunsets or even the moonlight when I was abroad. It would have been nice to remember it these days as I’ve been constantly imagining the scenes in my mind as I look out of my window before the first rays of the sun fires up the sky or when the moon beams down its hauntingly beautiful radiance on my face before I sleep.

My heart longs to see foreign roads again...flowers that I’ve never seen before… the looks on people’s faces when they see me as a foreigner in their country. The random acts of kindness from strangers, the different tastes of food that teases my adobo and sinigang-trained Filipino palette but finds it extraordinarily fascinating and stimulating just the same. Ahhh, the wonders of the world indeed reside in the ordinary, mundane facets of our humanity.

Life is full of surprises. You’ll never know if today’s the last day you’ll be able to have drinks with friends or if tomorrow would still hold the same creative spark that you have in your heart at this very moment. I’ve learned to cherish time and the presence of people in my life, even those who just happened to pass by or those whom I just met down the road.

Life can be lonely. But the feeling of emptiness that visits us once in a while gives it more depth and meaning that at times could not even be translated into words; rather it goes out like an ancient song of the soul that only the age-old existence of the universe can truly understand.

The sun and the moon are witnesses to our beautiful lives. To you who is reading this: Go on. Live the best way you can. Spread your wings. Its good to be alive.