Life Is Like a Dream
I've recently come to notice that dreaming is a common analogy used to describe life, either in the form of reminiscence or imagination.
While I may not have lived long enough to see things that way yet, I'm old enough that I sometimes find myself asking questions such as, "where did all that time go?" It never cease to amuse me whenever I meet the teen versions of the kids that I used to babysit; some of them are now taller than I am.
At a gathering a few weeks back, a lady teased me when I shared my observations on aging. "Look at this boy talk about being old," she said to me. Being in her 40s, she's justified to do so, but the thing is, the passage of time is indifferent of our starting point: a year lived is a year lived, and a decade passes us both equally. Being older is a concept relative to others we compare ourselves to, but growing old is not.
You might have heard of this phenomenon before: it's said that our perception of time differs based on how much we have lived. A one-year-old toddler experiences a new day as 1/365 of their time lived, or roughly 0.3% of their perception of the time. Whereas for a fifty-year-old, a 0.3% perception of time relative to their life lived is about 50 days. In other words, living a day for a one-year-old feels like spending half an hour for a mid middle age person. Of course, the latter doesn't physically live a shorter time, but he or she may feel like that the time flew by quickly when looking back on a day in the past. This is probably the reason why older adults often comments about the passing of time and whatnot.
I'd also read about how people wish that they could savor more of their childhood or youth, claiming that the responsibilities of adulthood deprive of the simpler joy in life. I find that statement difficult to relate to, since much of my time growing up was filled with misery. Looking back, I first experienced genuine contentment when I started college, because I became financially and emotionally independent and started having control of my life. This is why we should seek to pursue and value happiness at whatever age and circumstance we are in — however insignificant the source of happiness may seem. This does make me wonder, though, whether those people are reminiscing their past because they are less happy now.
As for growing old, I don't think aging itself is scary... well, relative speaking, anyway. The woeful part is, as I'm finding out, the pains brought on by the inevitable passing of time: to drift apart from the people that we used to care about, and to witness that people we love grow old and leave. The transient nature of time is much more saddening than its physical impact on our body.
(That doesn't mean that I look forward to the declining of my physique and mental faculty. If you have the time to spare, I recommend taking a listen to this experimental album.)
Going back to the dream analogy, here are a few other examples I've noted down:
“Sólo vinimos a soñar”: I saw this poem in a Mexican History book about ten years back. I have forgotten most of the writing — which is a real shame because I remember the book being an excellent read — but somehow this poem has stuck with me ever since.
Translated, the full poem reads:
Suddenly we came out of the dream,
we only came to dream,
it's not true, it's not true
that we came to live on earth.
“The Long Season”: A recent show that I watched features a scene of a middle-aged man letting go of his failed marriage.
The story is told from multiple perspectives and timeframes, and the use of flashbacks and time jumps really elevates the narrative quality.
“咱倆一起過了那麽多年,老覺得,像做一場夢似的……現在夢醒了,以後咱倆都好好的。”
"We've spent all these years together, and I always feel like as if... as if this was all just a dream. But that dream is over now (so it's time to move on). I wish us both well in the days to come."
Lastly, the two of my favorite songs of all time both happen to be about dreaming to reunite with the loved one.
“RTB” (Return to Base):
夢でなら すぐあざやかに (In my dreams, it's so bright)
あの日を 抱きしめられる (I can hold that day in my arms)
いくつもの 夏を見送り (I've seen many summers go by)
ここまで来たけ (I've come this far)
“Kanlungan” (Haven):
Ngayon ikaw ay nagbalik (Now you came back)
At tulad ko rin ang iyong pananabik (And your excitement is just like mine)
Makita ang dating kanlungan (To see the previous haven)
Tahanan ng ating tula at pangarap (Home of our poems and dreams)
Ngayon ay naglaho na (Now it's gone)
Saan hahanapin pa? (Where to search still?)
While writing this, I began to realize that a lot of sayings make more sense once you swap the word "life" and "dream" in their place... though I can't say that "be a big liver" sounds exactly as I thought it would be.
But, oh well, such is life.