The One Moment...

Another of my Write Wateva Crap things....

Some years ago, I watched a Japanese movie on TV which had an interesting concept about life after death.

In the movie, people who died ( or rather, Japanese people who died ) would enter an interview room right after death. Here, they would be able to choose ONE moment in their lives which they would want to remember forever. The crew would then assemble a sort of movie set to recreate the moment, and then the deceased would be able to live in that moment forever, all other memories having been erased. If you couldn't remember any moments, you had one week in which to view a video tape library of your life, to help you remember.

People varied in their choices of the ONE moment in their lives. One girl at first thought of the first time she had sat a rollercoaster at Disneyland, then decided on a time she was lying in her mother's embrace. Another man chose the first time he was on an aeroplane. ( This was those old warplanes where your head was exposed to the wind ) Another old woman chose the time she pirouetted for her brother, dressed in her favourite red shoes.

The hard part for many was choosing the ONE moment, but one man was rather poignant. Upon viewing the tapes, he realised that there had never been that ONE moment in his life. A typical Japanese bureaucrat, he watched tape after tape in his life, only to realise there was nothing in it for him to remember. Not his graduation, not his job, not even his marriage, which presumably was arranged.

How sad can that be? You live to a ripe old age, only to realise there was nothing in it for you?

But then again, how many people have that ONE moment in their lives? The ONE where suddenly, the world opens up before you, and you taste life in all its entirety. And you LOVE it.

The one high point in your otherwise humdrum existence. The one moment that you truly feel alive. The one moment that you'd want to relive over and over again for eternity.

The poor man couldn't find any. And then that's when he found out that those who could not choose were instead designated to work as crew in that halfway building between life and death, that state of purgatory, helping people choose the ONE before you could move on yourself.

I suppose if I couldn't decide on a ONE moment and I wanted to keep all my memories, that wouldn't be such a bad thing. But to remember for the rest of eternity what a boring loser you were?

Sigh.

To hold eternity in a moment.... Is it truly possible? Does the ONE moment really exists in everyone's lives? A ONE moment to be remembered and cherished forever, and which could never be surpassed by any other memory?

Maybe at our ages, we're still relatively young. ( Yes, in terms of an expected human lifespan of 80-90 years, we are young. ) We are still at the appetiser section, making way for the main courses. We haven't really tasted true pain, true love, ( Maybe some of you will disagree with me on this. :p ) true hardship, true luxury.

True life, in other words. And of course, at the end, true death.

So if you feel that you've experienced that ONE moment already, good for you. Remember that forever, for it will make the rest of your life pale in comparison.

---

Anyway there seems to be a conspiracy going on between my two kids. Yesterday one kid postponed on account of a CA on the same day, n another kid just fell ill today, and cancelled as well. So I suddenly have a day off, and I'm not quite sure what to do with it. :p

The laundry's waiting in the machine, though that will only take me a few minutes to hang up. I've checked all me mail, uploaded a few images, [more Freehand practices!] and read all my blogs and online comics.

Man. I truly have too much time on my hands today, and I don't know what to do with it all.

Nah, I do know. i'll go to the library, return and exchange some books, maybe do some sketching there, if I actually find space, get some food to eat, take a stroll through AMK imagining I'm 11 again, and remembering the thrill of being allowed outside by myself for the first time. *chortle* how young I was then... Nowadays I go so many places by myself it's ceased to be a thrill and become something of a bore. Though I have to admit it's more convenient sometimes... ( How many of you want to follow me to Kino and watch me browse books and comics and Copic markers for hours? )

Anyway, here's a sample of my latest practice on Freehand:



I'm getting slightly better on it, but still the thought of drawing the human face ( albeit a manga-ized version ) still makes me wanna scream. Can you imagine the no of strokes needed, not to mention the preciseness needed to perfectly express emotion? *stoned*

Anyway, laundry calls....