Day 4: Beauty Of Moments

I spent this day appreciating the beauty of moments.

On Thursday, after we spent the early part of the day wrapping up work, our interviews and etc, Pro, the CMU student attached to us brought us to the Sakura Gardens high up in the mountains. Through this journey I realized a couple things.

I find great comfort in long car rides with friends. Everywhere we went throughout the trip, we sat in new taxis that took the form of some van hybrid. We sat in parallel rows facing each other, and with a portable speaker and Su Ting’s music player, every taxi ride became an hour’s worth of karaoke. I must say that amidst all the work, surveys, and interviews, these little escapes were very much cherished by us. This made me ponder about appreciating these moments. Often I find my mind unhappily concluding that these moments are always fleeting and that I need to appreciate every second to make it last. I always try to remember every single detail, every conversation, every vibe I get from the atmosphere or any whiff of a new scent.

But on the trip I also thought that, to appreciate the beauty of a moment is to accept that it is fleeting and temporary. I honestly still don’t know how I could have better appreciated the rare time spent at the Sakura Gardens with the Sustainability group, but every time I think back, a sense of ‘happy longing’ just crashes over me. That was the day I got to know my friends a little more, not about details about their lives, but about who they are and what kind of person they are like. The beauty of moments was hard to capture on this day because everything was so overwhelming, but I think I’ve got a little of the hang of it.