"I want to die happily." That's what they all say, those few words serve as an allegory to all the living, yet many of us when quizzed of our own perceptions of such a happening are truly baffled. Death is inevitable, as Benjamin Franklin once said,"In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes." All of us have thought of it before, yet we have never considered how we want to die and what we want to leave behind other than an epitaph inscripted in stone.
Do you know what an ideal death is?
Some will tell you they want to die as billionaires, with their fat asses plopped on assets across the world. Yet anyone can tell you that in our incessant search of material wealth, that money is not everything in life, and if you want to die happily, money cannot buy that happiness. True, if a beggar was granted with a fortune from a lottery ticket, you could imagine his reaction. Gone would be the feeling of insecurity of where his next meal would come from. Yet, if he died the next day, where would he be? Would he be any happier?
Money can buy happiness today, but maybe it cannot buy happiness tomorrow.
Some will tell you they want to die knowing they have fulfilled their jobs as responsible parents and leaving a happy family behind. It is noble to think that if you family was happy, you would be able to leave this world happily too. It does imply rationality of sense after all. Parents often want to leave this world knowing that they have tried their best in giving their child the best of lives. That their child will be okay. That to a parent with terminal illness is godsend. Imagine, your mother dying of cancer ( pray that is not the case), all she would want now is for you to give your very best shot in life, she wants you to have a solid education that can give her the assurance that you will be able to take care of yourself when Death comes knocking. Yet it is naive to be that selfless, but that is what makes parents so special, that their sacrifice should be appreciated even more. Yet this is not death as you imagine it to be, happy, surely this in not a happy death for you as the parent, surely your sole purpose in life is not just about raising children to be grown up and matured about everything, although this is typical in Asian societies.
Life is short.
Tell me, what would be your happy death?
Mine, I want to be remembered as a good friend, a good son, and a good brother. That is all, I want to know that when I die there will be people at my funeral, that even if a single person were to shed tears, I am happy to have played a part in that person's life.
On to less sombre issues. In General Paper last week, the holy GP teacher *ahem*, he knows how to use the internet so it wouldn't be wise to mention his name here(:P), told us to write an essay about music of a 100 words without using the letter 'e' (!). I was like grinning at his brilliance, what a novel way of torturing students. The letter 'e' is the king of all words, the queen is 'a' and writing an essay, even a 100 word long one is like trying to ride a bicycle with one leg. I learnt that day people have actually written entire books(!) without the letter 'e'. Go wikipedia lipogram if you don't want to take my word. If there is a measure of joblessness, writing lipograms must be "ULTIMATE JOBLESSNESS, SOMEONE STOP HIM BEFORE HE KILLS HIMSELF!" Anyway here is my very feeble attempt. I think it ain't bad for a beginner. :D
"Music is an art of sound; its canvas is a manuscript and its brush various forms of musical apparatus, amongst which consist of an ordinary piano, a plain pipa, a classical violin and a pulchritudinous mahogany guitar. And it is only among adroit musicians that it is in favour of whom can truly grasp music’s gracious quality. Music is always known as a sort of lingo of souls, all of us fancy varying forms of music - all forms having individually distinct traits that can hatch most amorous admiration among fans. Good music is undying and unfading, its originality brassbound and it always brings a rush joy that cuts across faith, ticking clocks and location!"
Adios, peeps. Till next time.