Collosseum of the Dead
As we ease our Covid-19 restrictions, I fear that the number of infections will go up dramatically. What more with a state election coming up in Malacca. But what can we do about it? We have no choice but to resume normal life and learn to live with the virus.
It's now customary of hearing people dying of complications caused by Covid-19. The inevitability of death is something that we have to learn to accept. None of us: you, me and all the people that you see around you now will still be around in another 100 years. All the beauty and pride, the smiles, the laughter and the banter will be gone without a trace.
It is painful to lose a loved one. When we love someone, we have an emotional bond attached to the person as if it is a physical cord itself that ties our souls together. When one dies, these cords will be severed, with a pain that's akin to a limb being amputated.
All pain however fades away with time if wounds are allowed to heal. The first pre-requisite for healing is simply letting go. That is often the hardest thing to do. We feel a pang of guilt, as if we are betraying the dead by 'forgetting' about their existence.
The death of two of my friends due to Covid-19 was a great shock to me. But now I'll have to continue living, cherishing the good times we had--the joy and banter we exchanged are now but a beautiful memory, constantly present to nourish the future.
We can only go forward and the endpoint of this journey is death. To those who are religious, there could be an afterlife where one is judged for one's deeds in this life; to others there could a transition to another birth. Whatever it is, what matters most is now. This very moment.
This moment that stands on the memory of the departed, ushering the living to their inevitable end. We live and that's all we know. I write these words, and that's all I could do. So I do it with as much heart and earnestness that I could muster, for it is what defines me.
There are more people who have lived and died than there are those who are alive today. So we live surrounded by ghosts, like gladiators performing in the collosseum of the dead.
All we can do is fight the good fight. Fight with the wisdom accumulated by those who have come before us. It is the best way to honour them. And in time, we too shall depart, hopefully leaving behind some deeds or knowledge that could guide those who shall come after us.
