I often marvel at how things change quickly in a short amount of time, especially as adults: suddenly friends you've known all your life become married and then parents! And they're talking about things like diapers, daycare, waiting list for kindergarten, etc. In the Chinese kanji, the phrase is literally translated, "like passing through from one generation to the next." It's usually used to describe technological changes in the world or like how a city gets modernized quickly (Shanghai, for example).
I'm often amazed at how quickly I switch from one habit to the next. If I get hooked on something, I pursue it with deep intensity, devoting every free moment to the study of it, dissecting it in my mind, trying to come up with fresh new ways, and always having a drive to go further in it. Then, I get bored of it, I move onto the next passion, and I look back and feel like that older passion was so long ago. Dodgeball, for instance, seems like forever ago due to the pandemic (and just now slowly being phased back in as part of the great re-opening of activities in the United States), and my lifestyle has changed tremendously without dodgeball......I use those hours I'd be there to study Jeopardy clues. It's a stark difference, mental exercise v. physical exercise/coordination exercise.
Even working conditions: because of the nature of my job, I often move from one project to another with entirely new co-workers, new supervisors, new office (when there were offices). I'd often be spend so much time in one office and one particular corner/chair at that office that I'd get sick of it, but then after 2 months the project would be over and I'd never see that seat or place ever again.
I think this is a good lesson in life in that, due to the possibility of big changes in a little time due to foreseen and unforeseen causes like the black swan event of the global Covid pandemic, it's good to cherish those times when I'm deeply impassioned about something and wrapped up in it, having a good time, even if there are little hints that I'm getting a little tired of it (dodgeball was getting to be a big of a grind towards the end) because I never know when a big change will happen and I'll look back and think, "wow, that changed quickly." As MJ and I wrap up this phase of our life and move onto new journeys ahead (and new ages after my upcoming birthday), and possibly buying our first house (that'll be a big change, home ownership......or will it? We're still just living in a home, it's just the financial part that's different) it's good to have closure and to let the good times marinate and cherish the times we had in this life. And also to have a 2nd nursing graduation (after the undergrad one! 2 graduations in a week! Whirlwind! Big Changes in a little time!)
Fantasize on,
Robert Yan
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