During the government-imposed community quarantine, I had the ample amount of time to go over the things that I have, the lessons I learned and the people I shared this journey with.
I am the type of person who is very sentimental, even a tissue from a restaurant that I ate for the first time, I would keep and cherish. I would sign it with the date; I’ll even have the people whom I eat with sign too — silly but fun.
All of those and a lot more random items that I keep for sentimental purposes were all kept mainly in this box- treasure box. You know that idea of if there is one thing that you can save from a burning house what would it be? This treasure box is on top of my list.
I give credits to my mom who kept all my certificates of achievement from kindergarten up until college and kept them pretty organized in this book, which she let me design with the princess and the pauper sticker that I bought from my spare allowance in front of my elementary school.
Back in college, I also have this binder book where I keep all my school requirements and important documents (e.g., Certificate of Registration, class cards, scholarship certification, seminar’s certificate of participation etc.). Credit and thanks to my mom — I get to go back through my life with everything kept and well documented. I don’t have to look for them everywhere.
The process of taking over my mementos and organizing them myself made me ponder and think back on those precious moments and it made me realize our fleeting feelings.
You know, everything that happens in our life that involves our emotions are, I believe, fleeting moments.
We experience happiness as a series of pleasing moments. The elusive nature of love can be such a fleeting thing. We read for the pleasure of thinking another person’s thoughts — and then move on to another book. The excitement of visiting a new place, you wish time will freeze and let you stay there for a while. That sense of achievement when you finally did that hobby you’ve set aside doing. That one item from your wish list that you finally crossed out made you jumped out of joy. The contentment of having that long hour of conversation with that one friend you enjoy talking the most to. A touch and hug from loved ones, when you are at that moment, the feeling is just immensely overflowing. You feel loved and cared for, enjoy it, and savor the moment as the cliché goes because just like a shadow of our feelings, when the sun goes down, it all vanishes, and life goes on.
Not all that are fleeting though are only the good things.
Certain feelings like loneliness — sadness and pain come and go as well. A fleeting moment of suffering. Time will come, no more pain, no more tears and no more fears. “In the absence of love, we hold onto those who we have fleeting moments with. In some naïve hope they complete those times we have yet to live.”
Life in general is a fragile and fleeting moment too. We are born and we are bound to die.
But what matters most is the time in between, I’ve been saying this for a long time now and I won’t get tired of doing so because it’s the truth. There is more to life. Live in the moment and live life to the fullest.
PS: Try to keep mementos, Knick knacks and document the moment for you to come back to those certain moments you want to relive. It is fleeting as well, but it’s the best feeling while it last.
