I remember this: the story of the two lovers who, for reasons I did not know before, were separated and must never see each other again. But, because of the girl’s buckets of tears, her father granted her on the 7th day of the 7th month the chance to meet her man. On that very day that they were about to meet though, they found out that they cannot be with each other because the river separating them has no bridge. The girl cried even more and by some miracle, a bridge appeared. (For the complete story, refer to this Wikipedia entry.)
A few weeks ago, I saw thin bamboos in Aeon decorated with colorful Japanese paper. Kids went gaga around it and the strips of pastel colored paper were ‘a hot commodity’ for these young ones to write their wishes. I wanted to ‘participate’. But, when it was my chance to get near the tree and the table beside it, the strips were no more.
I had so many other chances after that. The tree just stood there, when I was on my way to the ATM. It was there when I was doing grocery. It was there… strips of paper, pens—available, which I ignored not once, not twice, not even thrice! Maybe because I thought to myself… it will still be there next time. Or maybe it is because after the frustration during that one time, I didn’t want to mind its existence any longer.
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Why is it that when something becomes easily attainable, its worth declines? For me, it felt like ‘making my wish’ so conveniently lessens the chances of it coming true.
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Anyway, I remember this one conversation I had with Nyaw. His realization at that time was: it doesn’t matter when you attain something. (Time is not a factor.) What matters is that you continue dreaming… you continue wanting it until it’s time.
The feeling of getting this right now and later is the same.
That kept me wondering. Really? If I get something now, I will feel the same if I get it later? Perhaps it is true. Perhaps it is true for some. Perhaps, not for all.
For there are times that I think the timing of certain events in life matter. The timing can sometimes (if not all the time) make the difference.
As for wishing, I’ve got some other ways of telling the universe to conspire for my dreams to happen. Tanabata is a chance. But it can also simply be a reminder.
A reminder to keep the dream alive… until it’s time.
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* Thanks to Google for constantly reminding me of the day’s occassion, be there something big or not.
