Being the last week of the year, I guess it's appropriate to put a song that really sums up the entire year than just the week and on that note, nothing is more appropriate than 'Seasons of Love', the signature song of the musical RENT. Here's the clip from the movie adaptation of the musical by Christopher Columbus boasting some of my favourite actors on TV and on stage like Taye Diggs, Idina Menzel, Rosario Dawson and Adam Pascal (well, they became my favourites after I watched RENT). Diggs, Menzel and Pascal were also part of the original Broadway cast of the musical.
525,600 minutes, 525,000 moments so dear.
525,600 minutes - how do you measure, measure a year?
In daylights, in sunsets, in midnights, in cups of coffee.
In inches, in miles, in laughter, in strife.
In 525,600 minutes - how do you measure a year in the life?
How about love? How about love? How
about love? Measure in love.
Seasons of love.
525,600 minutes! 525,000 journeys to plan.
525,600 minutes - how can you measure the life of a woman or man?
In truths that she learned,
Or in times that he cried.
In bridges he burned,
Or the way that she died....
It's time now to sing out,
the story never ends
let's celebrate remember a year in the life of friends.
How about love!
How about love! How about love!
Measure in love.
Seasons of love! Seasons of love.
It seems like a common practice for many to become sort of reflective when a new year approaches and I think the song puts the whole idea nicely and succintly. Just like everyone else, I would start pondering how good the year has been and how much I've achieved and whether I've fared better in my year compared to the person next to me and since each and everyone uses a variety of measuring standards (study, career, financial status etc.), it's kinda hard to know which one man is better than the rest which brings me to why I really like the song.
It encourages us all to measure our year based on our relationships, with strangers on the street or virtually, our friends we hang out with most of the time, our family we fight with half of our lives, and most importantly, with our own selves all the time. It reminds us all to judge the minutes in our lives, all 525,600 of it, based on how much we've touched someone's lives, either with genuine compassionate gestures or simple plain smiles, directly or indirectly, to people we personally know or random strangers we become acquainted with. The song also serves as a reminder of the moments that we've offended and hurt someone so that we wouldn't, hopefully, repeat such similar actions.
In 2010, I've learned truths, my own truths, and while others deem that some of them are blasphemies, I've decided to give them the benefit of my doubt to explore them. In 2010, I've cried for many reasons, both sad and happy. In 2010, I've burnt bridges and while it wasn't something that I am really proud of, I have my reasons to justify my action. In 2010, I've dealt with death together with the idea and the journey leading to it and just like in the lyrics, the story doesn't end and will never come to an end just because a year comes to and end.
The same will continue to go on in my life and while I'm happy for all the good moments to keep on coming, I'm not really scared about the persisting bad moments that will always follow like a darkening shadow because I know the people I love will always be with my. In 2010, in both happy and sad moments, I always have my family and friends to rely on and share everything. 2010 might have passed without me seeing any of my family physically the entire year, never a day passes without me thinking about them. On the other hand, I go through 2010 with my other family, my friends I've come to consider as brothers and sisters.
2010 saw me surviving another stint in medical school to become one year closer to my childhood ambition. 2010 saw me achieving my second dream to become a writer when I won a short story competition with the promise of getting published. 2010 saw me coming out and being honest to my friends in accepting who I am. 2010 saw me practising medicine in its actual state of meeting patients and doing practical stuff. 2010 saw me being in and out of love, thrived in hopes of the possibility of happiness and struggled under pressure of having those hopes being shattered to pieces.
2010 saw me going through all those things I mentioned above with my friends all around me and I couldn't be more grateful than how my year has turned out to be!
So yeah, I hope 2010 has been a meaningful year to all of you. Fret not if the year was stagnant without any significant achievement for 2011 will soon come to bring a whole load of promise of something better. Just celebrate the fact that you all have your family and friends who will never be unchanging even if the year seems to change at a rate faster than you'd like. Wallow not in the misery of what we don't have but be grateful for the pleasure of the things we do have.
Good luck in 2011!
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