3/11 Three Years Later and Reflecting the Ephemeral Nature of Human Life
For those who survived that life-changing massive earthquake rocking much of Japan on March 11th, 2011, it is difficult to believe that the event has officially marked its third anniversary of two days ago. For the author, the memories of coyly remaining in fetal position on the 20th floor of a near collapsed office building are emotional scars that will undoubtedly remain with him for the remainder of life. The Armageddon-like aftermath, with continuing aftershocks, anxious people clogging roads leading out of town, and empty shelves in every store, continue to remind him daily the very fragility of human society.
Reflecting on such fragility, coincidentally, has become especially appropriate now with the yet unexplained disappearance of Malaysian Airlines Flight 370, with 259 people on board. Experiencing and reading about each incident of sudden tragic nature, mostly beyond the control of human knowledge despite decades of continued improvements in scientific sophistication, teaches man just how quickly all his fortunes, happiness, and achievements blow away like dusts in the wind, leaving no hints of once glorious existence and no trace for the desperate others to track down.
Faced with such gloomy reality, people may choose different ways to react and to contemplate. A person the author deeply respect recently played down this whole possibility. What is beyond our control, she says, ought not to be a part of our psyche. The very act of thinking about such possibilities, after all, does not make them any less likely to occur or help mitigate their potential consequences. To sympathize with those who suffered such unpredictable misfortunes is simultaneously unproductive as it constitute our attempt, as individuals, to put ourselves in their unfortunate shoes. But we cannot really know what is it like...
Such sentiment is definitely true. For those who did not experience it firsthand, the worst of the worst they can imagine is still a hypothetical that they can then use to comfort themselves on, well, their relative good luck. But, for the author at least, reminding himself of such hypothetical, at the end, still serves as a chance for appreciation, an opportunity to feel gratitude for what he already has, and how much worse that his life could be, or realistically, how much worse it definitely was in some recent past. Sure, maybe he as a person can do little to improve the lot of those not as lucky as he is, but at least, it is a painful, constant remainder.
And with such remainder of how much worse things could be, people really should think about how to maximize their own limited times walking on the surface of this planet. No, the author does not mean they should find excuses to undertake some stupid, irresponsible, misguided tasks with every possibility to hurt themselves and add no value to the lives of others. What the author means is a need for every person to think about his/her very purpose of being in on this planet and thereby what s/he is attempting to achieve in the decidedly limited time of an unpredictable lifetime.
The author has certain renewed his feeling for such need in a recent dinner with a friend. The friend, met randomly in a backpacking trip through Taiwan some three and a half years ago, mentioned his crazy antics as a guide for Chinese package tourists and avid backpacker in his off time. "Living life to the fullest" would be the most appropriate way to describe what he is doing. The author felt jealous. He seems to be thoroughly enjoying showing the best of Taiwan to non-locals, referring to his overflowing knowledge of local history, food, and sights, all the while doing what loves to do: travel.
The author cannot agree more with his friend's attitude. As a sworn adventure backpacker himself, the author has no qualms visiting and residing across different continents and deal with people who he never imagined he will. And he has certainly no regrets of being so for the past years. Yet, increased age does make himself a bit more hesitant to walk down this path. The pressures of daily life - the need to make a career, a respectable living, adhere to the needs to people he cares about - takes a toll on the wild side of his identity. Only constant specters of 3/11 and other disasters he witnessed keep that side on top.
Ultimately, though, the author appreciates that he has been able to keep his goals locked on short-term concrete ones rather than long-term ambiguous ones. Life should be seen as a step-by-step process which, even if unexpected severed at some point, can have something to show for. To set an ambitious goal and stumble around different things to get to it, on the other hand, only fills the person with regret of misguided focus at the end. Without a doubt, the author of three years ago, cowering in fear at the shaking ground, would not be come this far without a series of quick decisions since to completely alter his own life.
Reflecting on such fragility, coincidentally, has become especially appropriate now with the yet unexplained disappearance of Malaysian Airlines Flight 370, with 259 people on board. Experiencing and reading about each incident of sudden tragic nature, mostly beyond the control of human knowledge despite decades of continued improvements in scientific sophistication, teaches man just how quickly all his fortunes, happiness, and achievements blow away like dusts in the wind, leaving no hints of once glorious existence and no trace for the desperate others to track down.
Faced with such gloomy reality, people may choose different ways to react and to contemplate. A person the author deeply respect recently played down this whole possibility. What is beyond our control, she says, ought not to be a part of our psyche. The very act of thinking about such possibilities, after all, does not make them any less likely to occur or help mitigate their potential consequences. To sympathize with those who suffered such unpredictable misfortunes is simultaneously unproductive as it constitute our attempt, as individuals, to put ourselves in their unfortunate shoes. But we cannot really know what is it like...
Such sentiment is definitely true. For those who did not experience it firsthand, the worst of the worst they can imagine is still a hypothetical that they can then use to comfort themselves on, well, their relative good luck. But, for the author at least, reminding himself of such hypothetical, at the end, still serves as a chance for appreciation, an opportunity to feel gratitude for what he already has, and how much worse that his life could be, or realistically, how much worse it definitely was in some recent past. Sure, maybe he as a person can do little to improve the lot of those not as lucky as he is, but at least, it is a painful, constant remainder.
And with such remainder of how much worse things could be, people really should think about how to maximize their own limited times walking on the surface of this planet. No, the author does not mean they should find excuses to undertake some stupid, irresponsible, misguided tasks with every possibility to hurt themselves and add no value to the lives of others. What the author means is a need for every person to think about his/her very purpose of being in on this planet and thereby what s/he is attempting to achieve in the decidedly limited time of an unpredictable lifetime.
The author has certain renewed his feeling for such need in a recent dinner with a friend. The friend, met randomly in a backpacking trip through Taiwan some three and a half years ago, mentioned his crazy antics as a guide for Chinese package tourists and avid backpacker in his off time. "Living life to the fullest" would be the most appropriate way to describe what he is doing. The author felt jealous. He seems to be thoroughly enjoying showing the best of Taiwan to non-locals, referring to his overflowing knowledge of local history, food, and sights, all the while doing what loves to do: travel.
The author cannot agree more with his friend's attitude. As a sworn adventure backpacker himself, the author has no qualms visiting and residing across different continents and deal with people who he never imagined he will. And he has certainly no regrets of being so for the past years. Yet, increased age does make himself a bit more hesitant to walk down this path. The pressures of daily life - the need to make a career, a respectable living, adhere to the needs to people he cares about - takes a toll on the wild side of his identity. Only constant specters of 3/11 and other disasters he witnessed keep that side on top.
Ultimately, though, the author appreciates that he has been able to keep his goals locked on short-term concrete ones rather than long-term ambiguous ones. Life should be seen as a step-by-step process which, even if unexpected severed at some point, can have something to show for. To set an ambitious goal and stumble around different things to get to it, on the other hand, only fills the person with regret of misguided focus at the end. Without a doubt, the author of three years ago, cowering in fear at the shaking ground, would not be come this far without a series of quick decisions since to completely alter his own life.
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