Manila-- I’m an early riser. I usually get up at 5 a.m., sometimes even earlier. We early risers have our own routines. I know people who do their morning walks, jogs and biking before sunrise.
I know some people who get hold of their coffee mugs to take their first hot sip of the day. There are those who go online first thing because they can’t wait to see what they might have missed during their sleep.
On any bright, quiet morning, my routine harks back to a childhood habit – waiting for that bird to sing. There are still trees standing around my place despite a lot of tree cutting to widen the roads in past years.
A bird sings every morning in one of the trees nearest me. I wait for it. It’s the same sweet sound of tweeting and singing I heard as a child growing up in the countryside, so I know it’s the same type of bird I hear at dawn. Fortunately, this same bird is in the metropolis to remind me of my little moments of happiness as a child.
This also reminds me of believing in someone who said that no matter what yesterday was like, birds always start a new day with a song, so that whatever happens next, there was, at least, that privileged brief time of the magical wonder of a bird’s song to start a promising day.
If we pay attention, there are many other tiny happy things that we can value and that can make us forget that, at some point, we chased giant dreams. And while doing that, somehow, the cruel world did not allow us to appreciate life’s snappy minutes and seconds of joy.
I also believe that humans are such lonely creatures that they must depend on fellow humans around them for a secure blanket of emotional support; someone to tell them that life is not all about far-reaching matters.
There was one such friend who, while talking about split seconds of delight, mentioned how she had dreams that never came true. Despite that, she says she is not living the wrong life, because now, she gets to do what she wants to do.
We’re both not wealthy, which was one of the grand dreams we shared back then that did not come true, but our early realization is that our wealth lies in our history and memories with friends who helped us feel rich and comfortable. Our wealth also lies in the richness of our experience and contribution to the world. No expensive stuff can parallel that.
Today, we look back with kindness at the past versions of ourselves that did not make enough moments for joy, and realize, too, that we ignored those times. We can create moments now that are as heartwarming as this mean world and our simplified lives allow us.
It is important to pay attention to the littlest of moments that can mean the grandest. I celebrate them and learn to let go, because tomorrow, a bird will make my heart sing.
Diana G. Mendoza is a journalist based in Manila. Send feedback to soltera2040@gmail.com
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