It’s just a bookmark! A simple piece of thick paper, printed replica of some really old Japanese painting. A couple of mornings ago, while rushing out to office, I put it in the book I was going to start and forgot how special it is.
Yes, it’s not just a bookmark. It is my time traveling ticket to Paris. More specifically to the hours when I was happily lost in the labyrinth that The Louvre is.
Traveling in the metro today, I pondered at a pause and used this bookmark to remind me where I’d stopped reading. And from the page I was on, I traveled back in time to my recent France visit, to Cannes, to the few wonderful days I’d spent in Paris.
That is when i realized (and not for the first time) how absolutely important it is to keep a tab on the good moments and memories in our life. Far too often we focus on the negative, the depressing, the what-is-not-right in our lives and keep missing the little big things that are good, even great.
It is midnight in my corner of the world. Lemme see what can I feel good about from my day so far…sunlight filtering-in through the window, my environment-friendly alarm app; giving last night’s leftovers to a stray dog, its joy was infectious; a meeting went well; stumbling upon a new music group and then it leading me to more and more songs that I loved; the bliss of a cup of masala chai; watching Harry Potter and the chamber of secrets; the very fact that i got up this morning ALIVE and that I have a bed to sleep in tonight…life is literally filled to the brim with blessings worth treasuring.
And yes, I know that life is full of troubles and trials. Yours is, mine is as well. That said, it doesn’t take much to keep the good memories closer to our heart… what we need to do is develop a habit, a strong will to change how we look at life. There IS a silver lining to every dark cloud we face, sometimes the most negative experiences are an act of grace, life just tells us again and again to have faith…because someday we’ll look back at it all and wonder, how in the world we made it so far.
So yes, as the bookmark monkeys show, hang in there and please start bookmarking the little moments you’ll treasure later on in life. Because it is these memories that make life what it is…worth living.
It’s time we speak out and raise awareness about suicide and its prevention. To honor the lives lost to this mental health issue, McCann Torre Lazur invites you to tag your images, videos, or words that represent the beauty and meaning of life with #worthliving on September 10th, World Suicide Prevention Day.
Born in New Delhi, India in 1980 and is a retired pessimist (still) living in New Delhi. He has Haryanvi ancestors, a Punjabi girlfriend, friends all over the world, two (or more) yet to be born children, (many) memories of (many) pet dogs and no cats ever. He holds an honours degree in English Literature from the University of Delhi and creates advertisements for paying the bills. His interests are universal, and include: living, eating, sleeping and when not sleeping, daydreaming. Other abiding interests include reading, writing, street photography, newspaper editorials, watching the moon and planning trekking trips that never materialize.