By: Ethan Jin
There once existed a young man on the bridge between life and death. He clutches his portrait tightly, repositions his features to match the same pondering look as the portrait, and begins to reminisce. And thus, the young man pondered the acquaintance of life of love and abundance.
Could love be of sparks in the most impervious of dark, like the luminescent guardian of the moon to young turtles? Or perhaps it’s the small moments, the small blissfulness in standing in the smell of petrichor, or the way the clouds part under a sunny day. If so, the conclusion seems clear; love blooms when we begin to take notice, akin to an audience with an omnipresent perspective. Maybe time will flow slower, and so will every breath be that much more affectionate. Perhaps this is how we should be treating the world; by acknowledging the moments before they fade, before we say goodbye to the memories that our future will treasure. If so, isn’t the answer to love clear? Instead of defining love, the goal of humanity is to go out and experience. We all love a little differently. Our personality, our memories, even the subtle way we breathe shape the love we give out to the world. Aha! Love is a simple thing. It’s one we are all capable of, no matter our predispositioned capacity. We can train our minds to accept love, our lungs to breathe the relief of love, and our gut to be whimsical in the face of more love. A romance between individuals is a silent kind of beauty.
It’s an exchange of ideas, like a shared thread in a world of noise of clutter. Through words this single thread can shut out the outside world. For when we speak, the translation of our ideas along that thread brings upon a special kind of intimacy. Ears are perked, faces are vibrant, laughter imminent. So when we look at the world around us, don’t we start to realize how much beauty there is yet to be unearthed? Why be oblivious when time is finite but our desire is infinite? I say we chase our instinct for love, even when the world seems to look away. Human beings are innately kind beings, we are all capable of producing and harboring love. I no longer believe in the sentiment that we are programmed to witness and relish destruction. Our darkness may exist, but not when we train our minds to open up our possibilities. Our mind is like a labyrinth. It may as well be endless. We can train the many paths to lead to love instead of the opposite. Our journey may be different, but our starting point is all the same. We feel love through moments. Sometimes small, sometimes big, but we all exist within the same confines cognizance. We need not to toil about the journey’s end, or the light at the end of the tunnel. We need only ourselves, this moment, to cherish the full extent of love’s embrace. We are all capable of so much. Why not take part in this romantic dance? It may spark a new you, a new memory, and perhaps, a new collection of moments.
As the young man gasped his last breath before withering away, it seems his thoughts have come to a conclusion. May his thoughts be forever immortalized in the pondering stare of his, in moment and in art.