Laid-Back 26
Growing up, I’ve had the privilege to celebrate my
birthdays full of balloons, cakes, sometimes lechon, karaoke, gifts, and
whatnots – with people that I love. Although when I reached my teenage years,
those material things turned to random midnight surprises, sleepovers, late
night talks over chips and pizza and some liquor. I mean I’m not complaining. I’ve
always loved a laid-back celebration without having to entertain visitors and
become the center of attention for hours.
This year is both the same and different. It’s the
same laid-back celebration and nothing fancy. Just me and my friends who
decided to spend the day in Alishan National Scenic Area in Chiayi, Taiwan. It
was my first time to celebrate my birthday outside the Philippines and away
from my family. God has given me the opportunity to pursue my graduate studies
in Taiwan and I couldn’t be more grateful. I mean, I’m grateful to be alive at
the very least.
Exactly 12 midnight on my birthday, my friends
surprised me with a cake from a local store near our dormitory while singing the
happy birthday song. For a moment, my homesickness was eased. Thank God for
thoughtful friends.
And so earlier that day, we headed to Chiayi which
is just adjacent to Tainan where we are staying. It took more or less an hour
to arrive at the train station and roughly 2 hours going to Alishan by taxi.
When we arrived, we immediately grabbed some soup
at 7/11 to compensate for the cold weather. It was a lot of firsts for me at
26. Not only because it was my first time to ride a forest train or see an
actual cherry blossom tree (which were a lot of fun by the way), it’s also
because for the first time, I felt completely independent. Not just in the
financial sense but more so in the emotional aspect. Like I’m bolder, better
and more resilient because I have a God who is far bigger than all my problems
combined. You know, those kinds of things you realize when you turn a year
older. Hihi.
Anyway, as I was reflecting on my life in between the
long walks that we had, I realize what better song that fits this entire drama
than Stop This Train by John Mayer. So, I compiled some videos from the
trip and put the song as the background. Here’s my amateur attempt at it:
I love this song. I mean, who doesn’t? It talks
perfectly about being afraid of getting old. Wanting to stop this train. But
then realizing that we’ll never gonna stop this train of life. Because it just moves
forward without caring for whether or not we’ve figured out where we want to
go. It just takes us and if we are wise, we can use it to our advantage.
Well, here's to more laid-back but purposeful years.
