As I sat on the dark beach listening to the sounds of the crashing waves and the very faint roar of thunder from the distant flashes of lightning, I wondered if will I think of this serene moment again? How many times will I remember this memory? Or will
All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain.1
“Like tears in rain” is an iconic line that is etched in many people’s memories. It pops up in my mind a lot and elucidates a strong emotional reaction. There are a few others from movies/shows that do the same (all are spoilers so I won’t reference any of the specifics) and my thoughts aren’t specific to any single quote but I find it fascinating that these stick with me.
Not like this. 2
I think what all of these have in common is that they are paradigm shifting but more importantly they are said by people with a lot of heart, believers.
Not Penny’s Boat. 3
They also touch on impermanence but how that impermanence gives way to a broader reality, where there are more questions than answers.
What door? 4
Where how we define ourselves and this world shifts but it’s not a lack of hope, it’s profound possibilities.
My personal north star is that we’re all motes of dust in an ocean of time, and the least I hope to do is make the lives of the other motes that I bump into slightly better instead of slightly worse. This impermanence is personified when I watch the ocean and its crashing waves: utter chaos dressed in beautiful rhythm; destroying and creating in the same motion; unpredictable but inevitable. There is no profundity, just waves shaping lives and we get to choose the motes of dust and the moments of time to remember.
So I hope that do I remember this moment; the cool breeze after a hot muggy day, the sound of waves punctuated by thunder, and the piece of Key Lime pie that made me walk over to the beach to begin with.