to love, to live, to be happy

the faces whirled round and round as the horses spinned, gyrating faster and faster as the merry-go-round picked up speed. faces of children and adults melted into a pool of blurry hazy silhouettes. have you ever been to a merry-go-round? have you noticed something peculiar? nobody ever laughs. nobody is smiling. perhaps it is only this one. nobody seems happy.

for the 2 days that i was trapped in a theme park, myriad noises filled my ears. the screeching of machines, the screams of terrified adolescents, the cries of babies and the whining of children. but no laughters. no twinkling melodious sound of laughters that brighten the sky. what is wrong with the picture? what is wrong with the world? in a place that is every child's dream, where imagination comes true, where every child's ultimate fantasy in fulfilled, no one is laughing.

in my travels, i see their faces. weathered, tired, senses dulled by the same spiritless routine. i hear voices, talking, chatting, greetings with pleasantries, civilities a thin tissue of superficiality. everyone is talking, is anyone listening? the only laughters that ring loud and filled the empty space are our own, four silly heads bent down with laughters over silly jokes.

i stopped to ask for direction. he wouldn't entertain me; he's attending to a couple. they wouldn't entertain me either, it's not my turn. their heads bent together once more in conspiracy over nothing more than pointless babble.

then, the immigration officer who only takes out his mint when we have placed our passports on his counter, takes his own sweet time to pop one into his mouth, and stop for a little chat with his colleague, procrastinating as much as he could before the inevitable task of attending to us. i couldn't help but imagine that his little stage show has more to do with the colour of our skin than his undeniable craving for mints at that particular moment. then again, i was on holiday, i'm in no hurry and the train doesn't leave for another 20 minutes. how long can you drag your little one-man-show? i'm amused that i'm treated to a personal entertainment, lame as it was, at the immigration counter. i much prefer the silver mime statue at covent garden.

nobody bothers, nobody is willing to give you the time of day eventhough they have nothing to rush off to. kindness and graciousness buried in a dark bottomless pit. yet i take it all in stride. all the frustrations, all the injustice fizzle into a whirl of dissipating tiny bubbles. i shake my head. not to censure their tactlessness but to commiserate the sadness that is in their lives.

to love, to live, to be happy, you have to open up your hearts. i am reminded to laugh and to cherish the life that is mine.