a friend pointed out (thanks, May!) that the quote in my multiply header actually came from the last lines in the finale of the Wonder Years, as narrated by its lead actor, Kevin Arnold:
"Growing up happens in a heartbeat. One day you're in diapers, the next day you're gone. But the memories of childhood stay with you for the long haul. I remember a place, a town, a house, like a lot of houses. A yard like a lot of other yards. On a street like a lot of other streets. And the thing is, after all these years, I still look back...with wonder."
and now i am in search for dvds of the said tv show. meanwhile, i content myself with watching some clips in youtube.
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when i was at ever gotesco the other day, it was scorching hot and i didn't quite know the place. then i learned that i'm gonna have to wait a bit longer. but instead of getting annoyed i actually got excited about being able to explore the place a bit. maybe it was just the wanderlust in me.
i walked around. felt the place. tried to step into the shoes of the people that i saw.
and although i was telling myself to feel bad and irritated i just could not bring myself to.
it was a weird feeling. both real and surreal.
back in college, a book by Jostein Gaarder called Sophie's World became such a phenomenon then. we talked about it, analyzed and even used it as supplementary reading for our philo classes. i heard there even became a time when teachers prohibited citing examples from the book anymore in explaining the different topics. i guess they just got fed up with bits and pieces from the book sprouting every now and then in the recitations and the exams.
but that was a long time ago so i wouldn't mind talking about the main thing that i've learned from this book. one big thing which i have been holding on to for the longest time, and it says:
"Life itself is like a magic trick, and philosophers must always observe it with wonder."
okay, i'm no philosopher but i believe that in order to enjoy and appreciate life to the fullest we must always let ourselves be amazed and in awe by the things that we see and are going on around us. kids are like this, they are always so inquisitive and appreciative upon seeing new things. most of us adults however have become more numb, more jaded of the many wonders of life.
we get irritated, feel impatient, be annoyed fairly easily.
we lose faith, give up, get depressed.
and although it is also part of human nature to feel all these negative thoughts, we may also have to find ways to go around it and find some other more worthwhile things to dwell on.
because indeed there are always worthwhile things to dwell on.
something to smile about.
like an image of a guy in red who looks so apologetic for having made you wait and walk, who rushes on to meet you and you both squint under the heat of the afternoon sun, and give each other bear hugs. and you melt. and everything else just gets lost in oblivion.
it is still a weird wonderful feeling. both real and surreal.
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Trivia from IMDB about the movie The Chronicles of Narnia:
Georgie Henley's (Lucy Pevensie) reaction to Mr. Tumnus at the lamppost is genuine. She had not seen her cast mate James MacAvoy, in his costume before the scene was filmed, so her screams and reaction were real. Georgie's first reaction to the snowy world of Narnia is also genuine - she was carried into the set blindfolded to make her first entrance, and her wide-eyed, delighted reactions to it all are entirely her own.
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