what’s so wonderful?

I miss the times in kindergarten – where going to school involved threading string through coloured shapes of cardboard, pouring water into differently sized jugs and singing your heart out as loudly as you wished. A simpler life, no doubt, where your worries were about making friends with that brunette girl or curly-haired boy in the corner, and when ’stupid’ was a bad word. The term ‘after school’ meant waiting for mom to take you on that walk down sunny lane, where you’d stop to look at tiny insects crawling on the ground, admire flowers growing out of unusual places or to pick up that pretty leaf.

Troubles came in the form of missing erasers, whether your mom would get mad at you for losing that eraser, and so not allowing you to watch some sing-a-long show. Afternoons were spent playing, at home or at a friend’s. I remember some names vaguely: one of my best friends, keenan mckenzie, danielle, moeko, boo kyeong, thomas, trevor, zubir, and surprisingly chris hussey was a classmate of mine too, though I don’t recall that. In fact I can’t remember the names many of those I posed with - with that buck-toothed grin – faces that seem all too familiar yet they could well be one of a stranger’s.

Life today is just different. So varied, so complex. Nevermind the issues that plague the world, just look at what the average person faces. Gone are the days where you can declare boldly and truthfully declare that all’s well and life is trouble-free, with that innocent vigour and absolute faith. Where you thrive without knowing what trust and responsibility meant. And so they say, the grass is always greener on the other side. Perhaps.