Places in the heart

There are places we remember with a sparkle in the eye, a twinkle in the heart, a glimmer of light in some forgotten corners of our mind.

There are places that take us back on a vicarious journey to more pristine times; to a less complicated existence, perhaps; an otherworldly experience, one might say; or moments here and there stored deep in bygone remembrances – moments that touch a faint cord from within, inexorably leading us to a wistful sigh or a fuzzy feeling.

And there are places in our past that helped shape us as individuals, not so much for the roots that they gave us from which to grow our trees but for the branches and twigs that ultimately make up our tree. Those places occupy certain recesses in our subconscious for the varied ways they added up in molding our personality, in casting our destiny, in appreciating what we have become and still dream to be.

Those are places that we want to return to – once or twice, maybe again and again – because of the memories attached to them, or the possibilities that still lie in wait. One can never have enough of what one beholds even if the place has become familiar. Always, there are nooks and crannies yet to be explored. There are hills and mountains left to climb, shores and foot paths to comb, stone walls to tear down with one’s eyes, ruins and monuments to muse upon, caves to enter and marvel at, lakes and rivers to navigate, waterfalls to draw inspiration from, people to meet and perchance bump into old, familiar faces once again…

Then we discover, perhaps to our heart's most pleasant chagrin, that even as appearances change with the passing of time, some things truly remain the same. We breathe the same old languid air, eat the same old piquant dish, love the same old nifty knickknack, pray to the same old God of perfect mountains and eternal sunshine. And it behooves us to think, those places and their moments are not simple acts of coincidence. They became part of our lives for a reason, they served a purpose one way or another, they are fragments of our whole that we cannot cast aside.

And we are presumably the better for it. They taught us a thing or two about growing up and surviving. They nourished our thirst for adventure and new things. They led us to uncharted seas as well as to oft-traveled pathways. Much like train stations and bus stops that we would pass by on the way to our eventual destination. We can’t avoid them, much less delete them from our life’s itinerary, lest the journey be not complete.

Those are special places that we cherish. Places in the heart, if you will. Or pretty postcards in tattered shoe boxes that moths haven’t destroyed as yet. They visit our reverie when the occasion calls for reminiscing – begging, almost cajoling, to be found again and rediscovered, like a long-lost lover that won’t go away…

Manila, my Manila

Towards the light...

This used to be my playground

On to rugged trails...

,,,and empty restaurants...

...life passes by untouched, unsullied, unchanged.