Monday 31 August 2009

In transit

I can't believe I'm saying this but I am heartily and truly sick of traveling. When the corridors of more than one transit stop become all too familiar, you start to realise a few things.

1) You are a cheapskate and only take flights that have at least 2 lay-overs.

2) You are traveling too much for a 19 year old.

I must confess. Every time I look at those glowing electronic boards that show the boarding gate of your connecting flight, my heart thuds painfully upon setting sight of the word Singapore. Singapore, I belong to it yet it never seems to be the destination I am searching for. With every month spent away from it, the reality of me being able to live elsewhere grows stronger.

I always thought that I would spend my adulthood in Singapore. Always thought that I would eventually marry someone from Singapore, raise my kids and well... grow old. I guess life doesn't always work the way we planned it to. Mostly because we lack knowledge during the planning stages. A character from a movie I watched recently once said " Young people never know how young they really are" That I must grudgingly admit is one of the truest things I have ever heard.

I still remember standing at the viewing platform at Changi Airport's terminal 2 longing to be on a plane. That longing later transformed into the fierce determination hardened within my heart as I stood watching the planes at Terminal 3, determined to talk, study and impress my way onto them. I wanted to see the world, to prove that I was different, to experience all that was new. I miss her, that fired up girl. I ate a fortune cookie recently and out spewed a piece of paper that said "you bring enthusiasm to those around you" Gerald who was standing by my side immediately declared it a lie. That is once again unfortunately completely true. I have lost my spark. I no longer believe that I can change the world, I no longer believe that my meagre actions can satisfy anyone... even myself. In my frenetic search for new experiences, I forgot to ground myself and as a result got lost in the vastness of what I found.

I need to find my bearings again. If I were to depend on others to be my roots, forever I will be like a tremulous autumn leaf, completely dependent on the branches for support, at mercy to the gusting winds.




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