It is 4am, I am tired writing, but I have a point. The world sleeps around me; yet where this picture was taken life is starting. That is the cycle of life, like the turning of the earth, and the earth’s revolution about the sun, we are born to live our time and pass like the perceptions and memories we have.
I used to wake to this scene every day for two years. I was happy waking to the mist and dew, to the path I where would meet friends before we went out to start our mischief. The path was a safe path, full of happiness and memories of misadventure. The fights with girlfriends that meant nothing and carrying suitcases for friends I never saw again when their future came.
Normal, it was normal and that normality was great. For in this body and in this mind are the swimming memories of a life lived as ordinarily as I possibly could. Isn’t than magical, to be safe with friends, to have such familiarity with one scene as you grow into a person, to have a place with as many memories as the days would allow.
We grow, and as we do we move, we move from boredom, from ambition and from necessity. We move, but do we forget? Nostalgia and sentimentality are not feelings we respect, but we have our sentiments and we hold them dear to our eyes when we see old friends, each having had their histories, separated through time from the moments you shared together once; yet those moments come into focusfor a brief glance before the reality of the distance draws between you. What a shame life would be without memory.
And for what? Inside the shell there is a human, a human with the same bones as you, the same sentiments despite the histories that bring the pains of living into a disparate separation.
Life brings trouble. Life is painful at times, and at those times our very existence is begged. I don’t question if I should die, my question is my pain of living; I beg the existential question – do I even belong in this universe? But what a silly question to ask. I will leave this life one day, but before I leave, before my time is up I will have all the friendships, the smiles and the people who I have met on my journey to thank for the wrinkles that bless my face.
So when I look back at this image, the dearest of all my memories, I remember life, I see age and all the lessons I have learnt through the ages that brought me here; and with with one wish I hope that the joy of living continues through the struggles of life. I hope for the happiness for those people who made this image what it is to me, the fondest icon of my life.
Tags: adulthood, developing, Experience, growth, History, Images, Life, Love, Me, picture, story, time, world, youth
Thank you for the comments. You guys really hit the nail on the head so to speak. I wanted to say something human and universal and I couldn’t think of any other way of saying it that thinking about the memories that certain places have attached to me.
The real test for me has always been going back, there’s always this idea that when we go back we should be excited but I never am. It always gives me the mixed emotion of happiness to see familiar surrounding and sadness, but in a good way, to see others starting their lives as I did, some en-route to making the same mistakes.
The most important thing though, the real magic and wonder is seeing the beginning of life, the start of the journey to the places that we all go, as hard as they can be some times. Looking into the eyes of people younger than me I am always happy to see that there are lessons and trials that they’ve not had to have yet.
I really believe we should cherish the memories we have, we should allow them to help shape us into the people we are and be stronger for that, more human if that is possible. But, we should also learn from them so that we can have as many moments in the future as we did in the past, that way bringing with us each day a freshness and readiness to experience life as it happens to us, just the way we did when we were young, only maybe better.
The Kindest regards to All of You,
Alexlovely, my friend. song, yr image, and yr talk. G
Love this photo .. love the music too. But the photo brings so many memories back to me from Liverpool in the 1960’s where my Grandmother lived. It was on a road just like this full of huge Victorian houses. I have started many poems about this house and my memories there but have never quite been able to do it justice. This image has brought it all back how I used to skip along at her side on the way to the local shops. The little old Irish lady and me. Great love it . Thanks x
The first thing I did when I read your post was ponder, re-read, replay the music and then stare at the picture. It made me feel like I was in an ethereal dream–like I was transplanted into your memory garden. I felt like I was literally in your mind looking at this picture and this mystical music was playing like I was in some sort of swirl of realism. I began to cry when I read what you wrote. It reminded me of time lost. Of fleeting moments. Of life standing still like this picture, but we as people aging and dying. That picture will remain, and many people will walk that patch of pavement throughout the years not knowing what it meant to you—and yet–you’ll be gone—and then what are we? What was our point in being alive? I loved this line specifically, “but before I leave, before my time is up I will have all the friendships, the smiles and the people who I have met on my journey to thank as wrinkles bless my cheeks..” It was such a beautiful way to think of leaving this earth–it made me visualize a tree that’s been cut that was very old and you see the thousands of circles that made up it’s lifetime–its version of wrinkles in time. I often wonder if I should live or die. I don’t really understand my purpose on this earth. I often feel I bring nothing to this world but maybe another crease, not a wrinkle on someone’s face. I envy you–I envy your memories and the way you view life. Because everyday for me–everyday that I live is painful. And so this piece of your broken postcard really resonated with me. Thank you for having such a special blog that touched my heart so much and made me tap into the inner well of my heart and soul……it is nice to know that someone out there recognizes that “inside the shell there is a human, a human with the same bones as you, the same sentiments despite the histories that bring the pains of living.” —One of 365
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