On the Fleeting Moments and Vivacity

Why wait? Creative inspiration flees, as does youth. As does life. Love. Blossoming emotions. Flowery language. Petals. Vivacity from the nature… 

Beneath a cherry blossom comes a chanting group of young children, cheerfully chiming the wedding march. Next to them, I have been wondering about the fleeting moments of life, and the very vivacity of life.

How stubborn we are, how fragile we are… Those thoughts just swam in my head, partly triggered by the music that I have been listening to. How many songs with similar lyrics do we have? We, the human beings, are philosophising creatures by nature. While we can be rational, we are also emotional beings. 

This blog post will feature a selection. Like snapshots, these will include my personal experience, favourite songs, and books. The descriptions will be short, and I invite you to listen to the songs or read the books. 

I will regard this article as a creative writing piece and an opportunity for keeping track of my ideas, and hope that you will enjoy it by reflecting on the fleeting moments of life, and seizing the enjoyable parts.

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Experience

I.

Like many of you, I love animals. But that may not stop our fear for certain species. One of my favourite moments from our recent trip to Taiwan was what I called ‘the lizard countercharge’. We were walking down the stairs, when I spotted a languid lizard relaxing on the steps, just as my dad walked towards that very spot without noticing. ‘Do not step on him!’ I yelled. He paused, confused and surprised, forming a peculiar tableau. 

This interesting moment did not last too long. The next bit was even more exciting! Not only was my dad able to not step on the lizard, the lizard smartly countercharged by stepping on my father’s shoes, and speedily escaping the scene. The process evoked a few gasps from my dad, who later encountered a pair of timid dog and dark-furred cat that quickly escaped us.

II. 

Also during the Taiwan trip, I scheduled a visit to the Taipei Zoo, the largest one in Asia. Personally, I also liked the way that the exhibitions, introductory materials, and animals were presented. It was very humane compared to the other zoos that I have been to in Asia. A blog post on the role of zoos in securing animal happiness may follow.

However, a pair of parrots were maltreated in my opinion. They are already ten years old, and have been in living in a hotel almost every day of their lives. For a few hours in the morning, they would be publicly displayed in the hotel lobby, attracting the attention of photography-maniac tourists. Afterwards, they would return to their ‘home’, a stinky, wounded (from Anna and Boss’ innumerable efforts to gain their freedom by biting the cage repeatedly) wooden house-shaped cage close to the swimming pool. All the time, they are chained and have seemingly lost the ability to fly, no matter how strong their desire to break free has been. They have screamed and struggled rebelliously, but after ten years, the situation does not seem to be changing.

III.

Shifting back to something positive… The 1,600 pandas exhibition! Set with the remarkable backdrop of the historical buildings, this exhibition featured 1,600 pandas (not real, but made by a French artist) with a wide diversity of poses, expressions, and relationships with other pandas. Those pandas will travel around the world, I guess in a similar fashion as the well loved duck. :)  It was very well publicised in Taiwan: there were buses full of model pandas. I found the sight very adorable. 

IV.

I do not own any pets but have regarded a pair of magpies as my very close friends. They do not seem to interact much, and seem solely interested in diligently acquiring more tree branches for their love nest, but it has been fascinating for me to observe their vivacity.

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Songs

Historia de Un Amor (Spanish song by Julio Iglesias. It is quite an epic romance that I could picture from the lyrics. A creative writing piece by the same title may follow.)

Phantom of the Opera (My all time favourite. Broadway musical, absolutely stunning as a duet. The mastermind…)

A Heart Full of Love (From the musical ‘Les Mis’. Refreshing and sweet encounter of a future couple.)

Let It Go (From the beloved film ‘Frozen’. Certain moments, we have to let go. We have to set ourselves free from fleeting moments that are not pleasing.)

致青春 (No need to explain much, I believe. The ethereal style matches the lyrics really well)

北京，北京 (I find it cathartic, especially admits the traffic in the city.)

C’est La Vie (Despite its French title and prelude, this is a beautiful Chinese song.)

Vois Sur Ton Chemin (A touching French song. Watch the film!)

Sin Ti (A Spanish version of Mariah Carey’s ‘Without You’ by two 11 / 12-ish-year-olds at the time. Great emotions although the singers are quite well. The pre-mature voice combo is fantastic.)

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Books

‘On Suicide’ (This may seem depressing, but it is a very worthwhile read. David Humes is very open-minded on the religious and spiritual moralities of suicide, arguing that it is a choice… Actually, this blog post could have been a lot more depressing, since it was at first triggered by this Penguin Book: Great Ideas piece.)

《穆斯林的葬礼》(Extremely moving.)

‘The Thorn Birds’ (Also extremely moving. Classic Australian family saga. Story about growth. Epic romance and forbidden love.)

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They may perish as time stealthily slips away from us. But they do bring something that is eternal to the world. 

If you are interested in a particular song or book, I will write more about it in a future blog post. Free free to comment on this post!