DEATH, for most people, can carry such a weight to its meaning. It reminds them of the loss of a loved one, losing someone that they hold dear in their hearts. It is one word that most would avoid using by replacing death with other words such as loss of life, the passing of someone, an eternal rest, etc. since they can help soften the impact of the idea that someone they know died.
One quick search on the internet and you’d be given the definition of death which is “the action or fact of dying or being killed; the end of the life of a person or organism” or in other words, what I am trying to say is most people associate death with a living thing that is dying.
But “death” can also be used in another way.
Another definition can be ”the destruction or permanent end of something”. So let me talk about something that in some way is also the loss of something most people hold dear to themselves and something that most people lose while growing up. The death of a dream.
When I was young, I was always interested in music. It didn’t matter what genre it was, who composed the musical piece, or from what time or place it came from. I couldn’t go anywhere without listening to something. It always seems to bring me comfort whenever or wherever I was.
Whenever I was in a situation or place that felt new or uncomfortable for me, I would always plug my earphones and play whatever song there was on my cellphone. I was not only interested in listening to music, I was also interested in creating music. So thinking that, I also knew that I had no talent in singing due to my voice not always following the tone or pitch that I wanted it to produce.
So I thought, if I couldn’t sing, I might as well play an instrument and join a band. So I started practicing. I asked my father to teach me how to play the guitar. Since the piano was just sitting in the house, I decided I could try to teach myself how to play the piano with the help of the internet.
I practiced for many weeks trying to memorize the different chords and the coordination of my fingers so that they land on the correct key or string for each chord. For weeks, I failed to play both instruments correctly, always the wrong string, always the wrong key, and always the wrong chord came out. I then realized that without knowledge of playing any instrument and without a voice that is at least tolerable when singing, maybe I don’t have a chance to make it in the world of music.
In retrospect, maybe I just didn’t practice hard enough or maybe there wasn’t much effort in trying to learn an instrument, but by the time I realized that, the dream had already died. Just like how a human or any living can’t be brought back from the dead, my dream was already gone and nothing can be done to revive it. I could still try to learn an instrument, but my desire to create something original and something to call my own had already passed on to wherever dead dreams may go.
The death of something or someone we loved may not always pleasant thing to experience for yourself. It is also hard to move on from the death the ones we loved. But losing something or someone doesn’t mean you should stop living your life to the fullest. The death of a dream doesn’t mean you’ve lost your purpose in life.
Sometimes killing of a dream can be a good way of releasing yourself from an unattainable fantasy, giving way to something that is more believably achievable within your limits and abilities.
Death can be never be avoided, living things and intangible objects or concepts like dreams will always undergo the process of death. Death always comes, however we must be prepared to deal with idea of losing something lest you lose yourself in the grief and sadness of the death of something we love. (Christine Cabrejas, Xavier University Senior High School)
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(Juventus Vox is SunStar Cagayan de Oro’s section for the youth’s perceptions and life’s views, feel free to contribute by sending in articles via cdosunstar@gmail.com)