Afternoon Journey

Image borrowed here

Noise, confusion, bloodshed...

Those are only samples among thousands or probably millions of words we can use to describe our present age. Everyday we go on with our same old businesses. We thought everything would turn out okay as we drive and take control of our desperate existence only to be bombarded with more problems, stress, and woes at the end of each day.

We turn on the television, or read the daily broadsheets and tabloids only to hear news of wars, terrorism, epidemics, gruel crimes, heinous incidents, and other catastrophic happenings in the local and even abroad. We then turn on the radio or listen to those popular music channels only to hear pure noise with nonsense lyrics that promotes the usage of bad language and as well as values and morals which are somewhat in conflict on what we believe in and on how we are brought up to.

Aren't we getting weary of this kind of lifestyle??? Well, I do. And just as I came up with all these thoughts, some mysterious force out of nowhere signaled me to stop.

Yep... stop, relax and take everything easily.

Amidst all those exhausting realizations, I have found my haven in a place which I knew could bring me comfort.

Yesterday, I went to that residential park where my highschool buddies and I used to go. The fact that it is inside the church grounds gave me a sense of peacefulness. I felt the presence of an omnipotent and divine force calming me. I sat quiet on a bench and started to read my reviewer in Theory of Architecture. I figured that if I would go in a certain place where it is quiet and peaceful, I could help myself sink in the lessons for my midterm examination tomorrow. But I guess I was wrong.

The afternoon was so beautiful and tranquil I couldn't help but to focus instead on the small details I see around me. A few parents were with their small kids playing with the swing and the monkey bars. Somehow, their soft laughter and the sound of rusted metal as it swung in midair gave me a strange feeling of bliss. A cold breeze that reminded me of summer whispers silently as the branches of the tall trees started dancing and as it's green leaves create a harmonious rustling sound. A few moments later, the choir of crickets began to sing their afternoon lullaby just as I notice the warm orange sun fading into the horizon and the darkening afternoon sky prevailing.

Magical moments and flicks of my highschool days began playing in front of me. I remember those afternoons, just like this one, when we would also go to this very same place to play, chat, have a little picnic, spend some quality time together and at the same time, rest, and let go of all our worries. It's a place we could call our own yet we share with other people. A place we call our refuge, our paradise. A wonderful place that God has unfolded before us.

But just like all the other aspects of life, we can never expect too much good things from coming. At the end of the day, when the only source of light I have comes from a nearby street lamp and the constellations scattered on the blanket of the endless nothingness, I usually find myself walking all alone on the silent streets, leaving the place I call our paradise and going back to the real world that is as cruel and as ugly as it used to be, but now with a light heart and a reinforced feeling of tranquility and pure joy.

That place I call our paradise, feeds my great longing for those moments that only exist in the past. We may have chosen to take different lives to lead and paths to take, but until that time when we would find our way back into each other's lives, I wanted it to literally happen in this place, where we can continue weaving new sets of priceless treasures.