life in three hours

i had a conversation with a friend through facebook im and i remember how long the conversation went. it wasn't supposed to take three hours for us to discuss his short story in progress which he asked me to give insight and give comments to but we did and ended up talking about topics regarding life in general.

his story is about a man, desperately searching for someone whom he can share his thoughts on and understand him. so he sent a message, put it in a bottle and threw it in the ocean in order for him to know that there is indeed that someone. apparently, he got a reply after years and years of waiting. and it struck me how this man actually waited for so many years just to find that one person. our conversation wound up covering the story and some other topics that are implied throughout the story. we talked about the human spirit and how amazing that one can persevere even with just a tiny glint of hope. we talked about how the world is so corrupted that everyone's thoughts have been meddled upon through the years without even knowing it that sometimes it is really difficult to find that one uncorrupted person whom you can talk to.

it's true that people when people grow old, they change. change, after all, is inevitable. but when or how can we really know if it's time for the change? if we really should change? true, that when we grow old and start to live our lives, we somehow become this different person, much different than who we were before that it becomes sad and tiring because sometimes when you suddenly stop and think about everything, you realize that you just lost a part of you. a part of you which was once the most important thing and the thing that you have been protecting the most from the world. but... we also come to realize that everything is transient so there are times that we just shrug it off and just say "oh well" which sometimes is quite the opposite thing that is supposed to happen.

some people say that it is the reality and there is no way of escaping from it so you might as well do it in which they do have a point. but what is reality? how can we know which is real when everything in this world is based upon perception? this may be the reality that we are living in but what if, WHAT IF, the things that we perceive as reality is entirely different from what we have been used to? because of the reality that we are in, my friend said that happily ever after does not exist. he asked me what if when the time comes that he would just want to live in a farm (or was that the countryside?), with a beautiful woman that he loves, with their children and live there for the rest of their lives happily ever after. the end. he said it will not happen. why? just ask yourself why. we all know the answer. the thing is, it's how it was supposed to be. because it's the reality that we grew up in. it's the reality that we know. it's the ONLY reality that we know for that matter.

so no matter how hard we try not to conform, human nature takes over and before we know it, we're already one of them. we're much like wolves and sheep. we try to be the best we can to fit into the group. because if you're a sheep and you try to fend off wolves by pretending to have fangs like them, the herd disowns you because according to them, it is not in your nature to be that way (read the parable of the sheep by charles riggs). but some of us are wolves in sheep's clothing while some are sheep in wolves' clothing and we do that not because we like to. we do it so that the herd will not disown us. we do it in order to survive.

in truth we are like the man in my friend's story (click here for the story - too bad for those who don't have facebook accounts); constantly at search for that someone who thinks the way we do. someone who understands and says "yes. i know." and when we find that person it's like a big sigh of relief. an affirmation that we are not alone.

as far as happily ever after is concerned, i hate to burst your bubble but it really does not exist. what's sad is that we have to wear our wolf costume or sheep costume sometime. then again, happily ever after is subjective. our lives are ours. not something that is dictated by some kind of system or an idea of reality whatsoever. after all there are so many ideas to choose from; why just choose one? whatever that is, live. and it's up to you how you make the most out of it may you be a wolf or a sheep.