On cherishing [珍惜]
As humans, we used to think that we are unique animals because we can feel. We cannot, however, refute the possibilities that other animals can feel, too. Sometimes to our surprise, an evolutionary little gesture from a puppy reminds us how much we can be behind of animals.
Remember those cute puppies? When you give them bones, instead of finishing them up, they hide the bones in their secret spots? A perfect example of the notion of 珍惜. 珍惜 is a Chinese phase, 珍 can be translated into delicate, treasure-like, rare; while 惜 can be translated as the attempt to save, preserve, conserve, the ability to feel pitiful upon. Gosh how I love my own language. The close interpretation would be ‘to cherish’, in simple and plain English, but I am sure you get the hang of what 珍惜 means.
So many times there are people from all crosses of our lives, including sometimes ourselves, thinking of what we deserve, but it never occurs to us what it means to 珍惜。 Maybe we only realize what it is worth when we lose it, but is it possible to avoid this little existential tradegy? Health, is a simple but yet pervasive example. When our health is gone, our mortal soul will be trapped in our flesh and our bone. That is quite a scary thought; well, but most of us don’t care, do we?
We are reminded that our bodies exist when things go wrong. Remember the last time you were really sick?
Or remember the last time you pour out your heart towards someone and (s)he doesn’t even bother to take hold of the bone; your innocence got silently and brutally stripped, replaced by perhaps the ability to shun yourself and remain impervious to others’ bones. As if you don’t care anymore. Hm.. but with our basic instinct, will it eventually guide us back to the initial euphoria of finding our bones?
Are all the bones the same? or they are essentially different?
Where is your bone? When was the last time you delicately place it in your secret spot, smiling because you know you have found it? When when was the last time you forget about it?
May you be happy with your bone, and remember how great it feels when you first found it.
