I hike up a hill to watch the leaves falling, listen to the birds singing, or simply to stare at the trees swaying in the wind.
I hike to a waterfall and stare at the water gushing through the rocks and crevices and feel the mist kissing my face.
I hike to the middle of nowhere and stare at the vast skies and feel the gentle breeze.
But why?
The most important element of a drama is the plot. It's what grips the audience, and beholds them to watch the entirety of the series/movie, lest they miss a crucial element of the story.
Its why we watch, and hop. Characters evolve, grow up and challenge whatever they couldn't at the start of the series/movie. We hope and long for change, we love to put ourselves in the shoes of the protagonist and think of ourselves as changing and overcoming challenges. It is what grants us cathartic release.
And yet, here I am, staring for hours at a world with no plot, where the only difference from one moment to the next is the chaos in the eddys of the water and wind.
Why?
All day, every day, we spend trying to change, to improve - to publish a paper, to meet a deadline, to complete a presentation.
All day, every day we talk to people and keep up with who they were and who they are, everyone is constantly changing.
All day, every day we look at the cities around us -the new restaurant that opened up, the old book store that closed down, the computer store that was broken into.
We try to keep track of everything around us, and yet, over time we lose track of all the changes around us. More so after a dramatic shift in the surroundings, be it when moving to a new city or setting off on your own for the first time.
What we seek then is not always change, but sometimes, just a pillar of constancy. An anchor that holds us down while the world explodes in turmoil around us. The world isn't a drama, and we aren't puppets.
Does anything exist that is truly constant?
"Change is the only constant" is an oft heard statement, and one that's irrefutably true. "Time grinds even mountains to dust"
However, not everything changes at the same rate. A person changes much faster than a waterfall.
Everywhere I go, the sound the water makes is the same, the stars always shine at night and the trees sway in the breeze. That is my foothold. For some others, its a book that cant be faulted, or an alternate fictional world, with characters that are set in stone. Its a world where our mind wanders, and reality is set aside. A world where we exist with nothing to keep track of, a world at peace, if only for a fleeting moment.
