It’s your mother’s favourite song, and your father turns up the volume and you all sing along....
INTROSPECTION
The sound of an old song that reminds you of your childhood … it takes you back to the time you drove with your family, late at night with the wind blowing and the windows down. As your hair blows in the wind, you’re completely submerged in the moment. It’s your mother’s favourite song, and your father turns up the volume and you all sing along. You watch your mother from the rear-view mirror, and closely look at her face … and you watch her transport to her youth when she believed anything was possible and that happiness was eternal. The hopes and dreams didn’t come true the way she had hoped for, but that solemn expression is met with a subtle smile as she comes back into this moment and immerses herself in the soundtrack. And just as you see your mind wandering off to an unexpected rain of the monsoon, you simply let yourself free in the downpour and fully experience the drops falling from the tree branches. Softly touching your skin. Reminding you that you are alive and present in this moment. With that, you notice the blossomed flowers, and notice how much gratitude you have to be able to see the season bloom and let the colours enrich your view.
As the delicate petals spread over like tiny envelopes of good omens rushing in, you pause and notice the beauty they withhold, and how important it is to stop and smell the roses. And now you watch the clouds rise over teacups. You’re suddenly sitting through all those times this concoction has healed you, made amends, put your thoughts to rest, end a cycle of destructive self-sabotage and made things clearer. Those conversations you’ve had with yourself that still remain a secret to the world but are owed to a cup of steaming thoughts, brewing over many sleepless nights. A passage written that speaks to you closely. A poem that means more to you than a friend. An author you think is your soulmate. And a love that is expressed earnestly through art. All occupy a space in the heart and mind. As a meaningful confession of being alive. Soon you share a laughter. One that is now somehow estranged and less often than the past, but still exists. And it engulfs you completely to know that you’ve lived it before and there will be times when you will once again. Like a child. Oblivious of the surroundings, your laugh sets you free. From your own self-created cage of overthinking and comparing. You realise that when most days are hard, some reflection is what brings you peace. All it takes is the effort to notice. The subtleties of the little things that take the most space in the heart.
