Random thoughts on a train

As quoted in a film once,

“The thing about being single is, you should cherish it. Because, in a week, or a lifetime of being alone, you many only get one moment. One moment, when you’re not tied up in a relationship with anyone. A parent, a pet, a sibling, a friend. One moment, when you stand on your own. Really, truly single. And then… it’s gone.” (How to be Single, 2016),

we have our whole lives to be tied down by a person, place, job, or situation.

Our life is short, yet it is long enough to be filled with numerous experiences and moments. From happy ones to sad ones; from one side of the world to the other. Whether it’s travelling the world and then settling down, or even the other way around. We as humans have the potential to do so much more with our lives than simply surviving and getting by.

Anyone, and everyone, has the ability to keep themselves alive throughout their life, but are they truly living? To their maximum potential!

This world is changing in good ways and bad ways. With the rise of love, there’s hate. Yet with the rise of hate there is also a rise in love. As a human race we’re destroying our Earth and our potential for survival; although we’re also more aware and environmentally conscious than ever before! We must stop for a moment and reflect on our lives and our impact on the Earth; whether it’s positive, negative, and needs to be improved.

Most humans reach a satisfactory milestone in their development and aren’t even interested or curious as to how much further they can develop as a person; that is if they are even aware of their progress and position along their developmental timeline.

Imagine going through a tunnel through a beautiful mountain.

You’re sitting on a long train journey.

You’re relaxed as the sun shines through the big glass windows that reveal a stunning view of the green countryside and wildlife on a blue skied spring day.

Each train stop is a milestone that you inattentively pass by.

At the beginning of our lives, we are ‘blessed’ with a creativity and imagination that is unique to each and every one of us. As we grow older, we are put through education that aims to teach versus how to act and think. It teaches us what is acceptable and not acceptable based on societal norms.

In this process, our imagination and creativity are at times unintentionally left behind.

Forgotten about.

Underdeveloped, and almost lost.

We forget that a huge part of being human is our consciousness and/or ability to act and think beyond what’s required for our survival. Our ability to gain new perspectives and to reflect and criticise every detail of our existence if we have to or want to. This sets us apart from other animals who are blissfully ignorant to the horrors present in the world today. This also distinguishes us from machines – mindless, repetitive, and accepting every information given without question.

As we arrive at the dark tunnel on the train tracks, as we leave our supposed ‘childlike imagination’ behind, we assume that we have reached our peak in our development and that the black dark tunnel wall on the other side of the window is all that is left. It seems as if the train has stopped and we assume we’ve reached our destination, that we grow up to be satisfied with. We think “I’m an adult now, I shall need to act like an ‘adult’ and get an ‘adult-like’ job, with ‘adult’ thoughts and worries.”.

Why must we focus on merely one generalised definition of an adult?

Yes, there is a somewhat blurry but clear divide between childhood and adulthood present in today’s society. But why must one possess traits and characteristics that the other cannot? Can it not be as simple as an adult possessing a more developed creativity than the child? Why must it be present in either one or the other? Can’t it be a continuous thing?

When thinking about our past childhood, we reminisce and feel nostalgic as we’re aware that it was one of the highlight periods of our lives. We remember how much we enjoyed playing, all the stories and role play situations we made simply from our ‘childlike imagination’. We appreciated nature and our surroundings.

These memories occur when inside the dark tunnel that we accept as our final destination.
We conclude and accept that we have lost our childhood as there is no place for ‘childlike’ behaviour in the ‘real’ ‘adult’ world.

If only everyone were aware that the blue sky is still there. The beautiful green scenery is still there. It’s just hidden above the dark tunnel, on the other side of the walls. Wishing to break in and shatter our ‘adult’ illusions of the world around us and how we’re meant to be, act, think, and live.
There is always light at the other end of the tunnel where there is room for creativity and imagination in our adult lives. Where there is room to explore the world once more, but this time with a new gained perspective.

This time, as we are blessed with the view of
   The green fields,
      The blue sky,
         The birds swooping into the river,
            The animals living happily,
               All bursting through the train window;

                  We realise that life is truly so much more than we’re led to believe (Tartaglia, 2014) by those satisfactory dark tunnel walls that represent adult life (not wishing to sound repetitive but it’s true).

There is so much of this world that is waiting to be explored.

Despite all of the terrible situations in this world, there is always hope and beautiful places untouched by humanity.

Get off your phone. Disconnect from the toxic consuming internet. Go outside and connect to nature, to your surroundings, to yourself.

If it’s daylight, energise yourself from the sun and the crisp spring air.
If it’s night time, gaze at the moon and the stars, and reflect upon the beauty of this Earth.

Get inspired!

Don’t settle just yet for a life trapped indoors.
Don’t simply state how you wish you could do this or that you wish you could go there. You need to actually set realistic steps in order to reach that goal.

To conclude with my main point, a lot of us consider love to be the main purpose and goal in life. To love and be loved by another. Why must we give and receive this love solely from someone else? 
What is the point if we can’t find the way to love, accept, and appreciate ourselves?

We have all the time in the world to find someone and share our life with them, so don’t worry and don’t see being alone as a direct link to loneliness and sadness. Cherish being alone as it may offer you a freedom that some relationships do not, as a result of compromise.

This isn’t to say all relationships withhold freedom. Some offer freedom and the comfort to do things that you may have thought weren’t acceptable in other people’s views due to society’s manipulation.

Be conscious, aware, accepting, appreciative, and thankful of your life and its surroundings. We all have so much potential. Once we realise and become aware of this, we can truly start being happy and positive in moving forward through the tunnel and out the other end where our life is waiting for us – to greet and awake us from our however long ‘adult-life’ sleep.

How to be Single. (2016) [Film]. Directed by Christian Ditter. USA: New Line Cinema.
Clip of movie quote: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJFmw3THLKU

Written by Sofia Tartaglia on the 4th of April 2017